한국항공우주연구원

Goodbye to space, heading back to earth, touchdown on the Kazakh steppe

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced that Yi So-yeon, Korea’s first astronaut, will return to Earth aboard the Soyuz TMA-11 at 5:30 p.m. Korea Time on April 19, 2008 after accomplishing her space missions at the International Space Station (ISS) for 10 days.

Yi blasted off into space on the Soyuz TMA-12 on April 8, drawing much public interest and support. Since then, she has been onboard the ISS for 10 days, carrying out her mission of 18 scientific experiments. During the visit to the ISS, she has promoted Korean culture worldwide through her mission of having Korean-style dinner in space and a performance using the national flag Taegeukgi performance while giving. This has provided young Koreans hope and dreams toward space.

Before her returning to Earth on April 19, there will be an ISS farewell ceremony to say goodbye to the ISS astronauts, with whom she has become familiar. After the farewell ceremony, she will prepare for the return, boarding the Soyuz TMA-11 reentry module along with Yuri Malenchenko and Peggy Whitson.

After the returning astronauts board the Soyuz TMA-11, followed by hatch closure at 11:00 a.m. and undocking at 2:00 p.m., the Soyuz Spacecraft will be completely separated from the ISS. The orbital module, instrumentation/propulsion module of the Soyuz TMA-11, will be detached right before the entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, and be gone burned up after the entry due to frictional heat. Only the reentry module will pass through the atmosphere. About 8 minutes after entry into the atmosphere, the parachute of the reentry capsule will be deployed, making a landing on the Kazakh steppe.

When the reentry module lands, safety personnel and the Russian emergency rescue team will be there waiting for the astronauts. Yi will be pulled out from the reentry module with the help of the rescue team, and then receive a medical check-up.

The astronauts will move to Kazakhstan’s Qostanay Airport to participate in a ceremony hosted by Kazakhstan. Afterwards, they will move to the Moscow Chkalovsky Airport to take part in the welcoming ceremony hosted by Russia. After finishing the official schedule, Yi will be admitted to the hospital in the Gagarin Space Center for a week to take a rest and undergo a health checkup. She is scheduled to return to Korea in late April.