[ Radio communication ]
>> You hear of the Soyuz now visible in Kazakhstan making its way to its landing site,
north of Archolic [assumed spelling].
[ Radio communication ]
>> [Radio communication in background] Commander Dan Burbank
and his crew mates Flight Engineer's Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin.
Just ten minutes away from their landing now.
[Radio communication foreign language] This again is a live view from Kazakhstan.
[ Radio communication ]
>> [Radio communication in background] With the parachute set slowing the cellose down.
Easily visible on the clear day.
Excellent weather was predicted for the landing and it looks like that has come through.
[ Radio communication ]
[ Silence ]
>> G there in the foreground of one of the eight helicopters in the area to meet the Soyuz
as it makes its descent to its landing site, and coming up as you can see on that touchdown.
Just a few seconds away now.
[ Silence ]
And the team here in the international space station flight control room confirming
that the Soyuz TMA22 has touched down in Kazakhstan, now at 6:45 a.m. central time.
That 2:45 p.m. Kazakhstan time.
This brings to an end a 165 day in space for these three members of the Expedition 30 crew,
Commander Dan Burbank and Flight Engineers Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin.
[ Background communication ]
Anton give him the [inaudible].
And you see the first of the crew members has been removed from the Soyuz capsule.
This is Anton Shkaplerov was the commander of the Soyuz for its landing.
He was seated in the center seat and as such was the first to be taken out.
Next stop of course will be his crew mates Anatoly Ivanishin and Dan Burbank.
>> They are working actually to rotate the crew members into the proper orientation
so that they can be moved out of their restraint straps
and then gently pulled out of the hatchway.
We're about to get the second of the three crew members out.
This process -- whether the Soyuz lands upright or on its side does take a few minutes
to complete, but they're working methodically to extract the crew members and get them
into their respective seats -- the other two crew members that is.
Typically the left center, which would Anatoly Ivanishin would be the second one out.
We'll see if that is the case here.
Sometimes they reverse the order of the second and third [background noise] crew members...
>> That looks like what we're seeing.
>> And it is in fact Ivanishin who was pulled
out of the Soyuz space craft flashing a broad smile as he is put in his reclining chair.
Completing his first flight into space as did his Russian crew mate Anton Shkaplerov.
So yet to come Dan Burbank and then the extraction of the crew will be complete.
They'll have an opportunity to spend a few minutes
in their reclining chairs getting their sea legs back, if you will, after five and a half months
of weightlessness before they are hoisted in those chairs and carried about 35 --
40 yards away to an inflatable orange medical tent at which they will be assisted
in the removal of their Soyuz launch and entry suits to get into more comfortable flight suits.
They'll be placed in all-terrain vehicles and driven a short distance
to their respective helicopters for the one hour 50 minute flight back
to [inaudible] Kazakhstan just south of the Russian border for a short welcoming ceremony,
Ivanishin and Shkaplerov will board a [inaudible] training center aircraft
to be flown back to Collisy [assumed spelling] Airfield outside of Star City.
There they will be reunited with their families
and they'll be met by top Russian Space Officials.
Dan Burbank meanwhile, will board a NASA jet that is sitting on the tarmac
in Kutenai for the flight back to Houston.
This seemed to be the most pinpoint precise landings according
to what we were told a moment ago before I went on the air.
The space craft landed almost exactly where it had been forecast to.
Of course, the search and recovery forces are tracking the Soyuz
through a beacon signal, GPS receivers.
They had voice contact and now applause comes up.
Dan Burbank now out of his [inaudible] and being carried to his chair.
We're going to walk over to see if we can get closer to him..
[Background conversation].
He is in the process of loosening the helmet that he wore during the decent back to earth,
but all three crew members now out of the Soyuz vehicle.
Chief Astronaut Peggy Witon is directly [inaudible] Burbank asking him
if he needs anything at the moment.
Dr. Smith Johnston his flight surgeon
and Russian nurses are attending to Burbank, as well.
This is customary.
They're placing a blanket over his legs.
He'll have an opportunity to re-familiarize himself to the one G environment here,
as the moments move on before they're hoisted back into their medical tent,
as I said to get their flight suits off.
And now he's about to receive congratulations from one of the head personnel for the search
and recovery forces, making sure if needs anything.
Burbank has simply asked for a bottle of water to wet his whistle
if you will, and there's laughter abounding.
He appears to be in very good shape in deed.
[ Background noise ]
[ Background talking ]
>> And as you can see the crew now being moved into the medical tent again they'll be able
to there get out of their space suits and ready for their trip first back to Kutenai
and then onto their various homes.
[Background noise]
[ Foreign language being spoken ]