The crew of the French-Russian
Andromëde spaceflight mission, led by CNES and its Russian partners
Rosaviacosmos and RKK Energia, are safe and well after a successful
landing Wednesday 31 October 2001 at 5:59.26 (French time).
French astronaut and flight engineer
Claudie Haignerè, of the ESA Astronaut Corps, and her Russian crewmates
flight commander Victor Afanassiev and Konstantin Koseev, returned to
their Soyuz TM-32 spacecraft Tuesday 30 October. The airlock was closed
at 23:40 (French time) and the Soyuz undocked from the International
Space Station (ISS) Wednesday 31 October at 2:40 (French time).
The Soyuz landed nominally, returning
to Earth today at 5:59.26 (French time) 180 kilometres south-east of
Djezkazgan in Kazakhstan.
The Andromède mission was launched 21
October 2001 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The mission
lasted ten days, eight of which were spent on the ISS orbiting Earth at
an altitude of 400 kilometres. Andromède was the initiative of
Roger-Gérard Schwartzenberg, France’s Minister of Research with
responsibility for Space.
After the crew had landed, the
Minister said: "I offer my warmest congratulations to our
compatriot. I would like to express my esteem and admiration for Claudie
Haigneré, whose skill, dedication and courage are a model for us all,
and who projects an image of France at its best. This morning, Claudie
is the face of Marianne, the figurehead of our French Republic. It is
fitting that the first French astronaut to fly to the International
Space Station should be a woman and a scientist, indeed a doctor of
medicine and science who is helping to advance research and space
exploration."
TV pictures will be available from
SERTE from 4.00 p.m. today.
And live from cnes-tv.net (www.cnes-tv.net)
with Real Player, otherwise go to www.cnes.fr.
Photos will be available from 4.00 p.m.
today from ESA on +33 (0)1 53 69 72 49 or Espace-Diffusion on +33 (0)1
55 34 37 01.
CNES press contact on +33 (0)1 44 76
76 87.
