U.S. Billionaire Space Tourist Returns to Earth

The Russian Spacecraft carrying a crew of three, one being the US billionaire space tourist Charles Simonyi, made a successful landing on Wednesday.

The capsule touched down in the morning around 11:15AM on Wednesday near Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan after leaving the International Space Station about three hours earlier. A few minutes after touch down the crew were extracted from the capsule and were carried to a waiting helicopter. All three smiled at cameras and gave 'thumbs-ups' to show they were all okay.

"It looks like we know how now to take care of our astronauts and cosmonauts in orbit so that they look good on landing," NASA official Brian O'Connor said to reporters.

During the 13-day mission billionaire Simonyi helped out with research projects and took part of live broadcasts with schools.

"We applaud Charles on his continued commitment and investment to commercial spaceflight. Having a repeat orbital client demonstrates to the world that participating in a space mission is truly a magnificent and awe-inspiring experience," said Eric Anderson, president and CEO of Space Adventures. "Charles is an inspiration and it has been a pleasure and an honor to assist him in living his dream, twice!"

Simonyi has paid $60 million for his two space trips thus far and said "I cannot fly for the third time because I have just married and I have to spend time with my family."

The Soyuz spacecraft is launched by the Soyuz launch vehicle, initially as part of the Soyuz program, and also as part of the unmanned Zond program. Soyuz spacecraft were used to carry cosmonauts to and from Salyut and later Mir Soviet space stations, and are now used for transport to and from the International Space Station. The International Space Station maintains a docked Russian Soyuz spacecraft at all times to be used as an escape craft in the event of an emergency.