Expedition 32 crew lands safely as Sunita takes over command
posted on Sep 17, 2012 @ 5:13PM
Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams has taken over the command of the International Space Station, becoming the second woman in history to do so, even as a three-member crew of the Expedition 32 returned safely to earth, wrapping up a mission lasting more than four months. The three-man crew onboard a Russian-made Soyuz capsule touched down successfully in central Kazakhstan steppe this morning after spending 123 days at the Space Station. Just after the Soyuz spacecraft separated from the space station yesterday, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams took over command of Expedition 33 at the station from Commander Gennady Padalka, becoming the second woman in history to do so. Williams will be sharing the Space Station with veteran Russia cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide until mid-October, when three more astronauts, including NASA astronaut Kevin Ford, will arrive and round out the full crew of Expedition 33. Flight Engineer Joe Acaba of NASA, Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin of the Russian Federal Space Agency, landed north of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan this morning. They arrived at the station on May 17 and spent 125 days in space, 123 of which were aboard the orbiting laboratory. The trio are expected to have a difficult time readjusting to life on earth, especially Mr Revin and Mr Acaba, who are coming off their first long-term stay aboard the orbiting international space lab, NASA sources