spacetoday.net: Soyuz returns to Earth, lands off-target

Posted: Sat, Apr 19, 2008, 9:42 AM ET (1342 GMT)
Soyuz TMA-11 undocks from ISS (NASA)

A Soyuz spacecraft carrying two International Space Station crew members and the first South Korean astronaut landed safely in Kazakhstan early Saturday, but came down nearly 500 kilometers off-course. The Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft, carrying the Expedition 16 crew members Peggy Whitson and Yuri Malenchenko as well as South Korean astronaut Yi So-yeon, undocked from the station at 1:06 am EDT (0506 GMT) and began its reentry about two and a half hours later. The spacecraft landed in Kazakhstan at 4:30 am EDT (0830 GMT), but officials said the spacecraft landed about 475 kilometers from the planned location. Recovery crews arrived at the capsule about 45 minutes after landing and reported that all three Soyuz crew members were in good health. The Soyuz apparently experienced a ballistic reentry, which caused the capsule to experience higher-than-usual g-loads. What triggered the ballistic reentry, the third in the last five years, is not immediately known.