Distant planetary system is a super-sized solar system

Toronto, ON (SPX)
Mar 18, 2013

A team of astronomers, including Quinn Konopacky of the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, has made the most detailed examination yet of the atmosphere of a Jupiter-like planet beyond our Solar System.

According to Konopacky, "We have been able to observe this planet in unprecedented detail because of the advanced instrumentation we are using on the Keck II telescope, our ground-breaking observing and data-processing techniques, and because of the nature of the planetary system."

Konopacky is lead author of the paper describing the team's findings, to be published in Science Express, and March 22nd in the journal Science.

The team, using a high-resolution imaging spectrograph called OSIRIS, uncovered the chemical fingerprints of specific molecules, revealing a cloudy atmosphere containing carbon monoxide and water vapor  "With this level of detail," says Travis Barman, a Lowell Observatory astronomer and co-author of the paper, "we can compare the amount of carbon to the amount of oxygen present in the planet's atmosphere, and this chemical mix provides clues as to how the entire planetary system formed."

There has been considerable uncertainty about how systems of planets form, with two leading models, called core accretion and gravitational instability. Planetary properties, such as the composition of a planet's atmosphere, are clues as to whether a system formed according to one model or the other.

"This is the sharpest spectrum ever obtained of an extrasolar planet," according to co-author Bruce Macintosh of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. "This shows the power of directly imaging a planetary system. It is the exquisite resolution afforded by these new observations that has allowed us to really begin to probe planet formation."

The spectrum reveals that the carbon to oxygen ratio is consistent with the core accretion scenario, the model thought to explain the formation of our Solar System.

The planet, designated HR 8799c, is one of four gas giants known to orbit a star 130 light-years from Earth. The authors and their collaborators previously discovered HR 8799c and its three companions back in 2008 and 2010. All the planets are larger than any in our Solar System, with masses three to seven times that of Jupiter. Their orbits are similarly large when compared to our system. HR 8799c orbits 40 times farther from its parent star than the Earth orbits from the Sun; in our Solar System, that would put it well beyond the realm of Neptune.

According to the core accretion model, the star HR 8799 was originally surrounded by nothing but a huge disk of gas and dust. As the gas cooled, ice formed; this process depleted the disk of oxygen atoms. Ice and dust collected into planetary cores which, once they were large enough, attracted surrounding gas to form large atmospheres. The gas was depleted of oxygen, and this is reflected in the planet's atmosphere today as an enhanced carbon to oxygen ratio.

The core accretion model also predicts that large gas giant planets form at great distances from the central star, and smaller rocky planets closer in, as in our Solar System. It is rocky planets, not too far, nor close to the star, that are prime candidates for supporting life.

"The results suggest the HR 8799 system is like a scaled-up Solar System," says Konopacky. "And so, in addition to the gas giants far from their parent star, it would not come as a surprise to find Earth-like planets closer in."

The observations of HR 8799c were made with the Keck II 10-meter telescope in Hawaii, one of the two largest optical telescopes in the world. The telescope's adaptive optics system corrects for distortion caused by the Earth's atmosphere, making the view through Keck II sharper than through the Hubble Space Telescope.

Astronomers refer to this as spatial resolution. Seeing exoplanets around stars is like trying to see a firefly next to a spotlight. Keck's adaptive optics and high spatial resolution, combined with advanced data-processing techniques, allow astronomers to more clearly see both the stellar "spotlight" and planetary "firefly."

"We can directly image the planets around HR 8799 because they are all large, young, and very far from their parent star. This makes the system an excellent laboratory for studying exoplanet atmospheres," says coauthor Christian Marois of the National Research Council of Canada. "Since its discovery, this system just keeps surprising us."

Konopacky and her team will continue to study the super-sized planets to learn more details about their nature and their atmospheres. Future observations will be made using the recently upgraded OSIRIS instrument which utilizes a new diffraction grating-the key component of the spectrograph that separates light according to wavelength, just like a prism. The new grating was developed at the Dunlap Institute and installed in the spectrograph in December 2012.

"These future observations will tell us much more about the planets in this system," says Dunlap Fellow Konopacky. "And the more we learn about this distant planetary system, the more we learn about our own."

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Distant_planetary_system_is_a_super_sized_solar_system_999.html.

Opportunity Departing South Soon

Pasadena CA (JPL)
Mar 18, 2013

Opportunity is completing the in-situ (contact) investigation of the terrain on the inboard edge of Cape York on the rim of 'Endeavour Crater' before departing to the south.

Flash memory issues appeared again on Sol 3244 (March 9, 2013), but were minor. Although, this time the symptoms were different from earlier incidents. The project continues to investigate this.

On Sol 3246 (March 11, 2013), Opportunity approached the Kirkwood outcrop with a 30 foot (9.2 meter) drive. The rover visited this site before the start of the regional 'walkabout' and has now returned for detailed investigation of the 'newberries' seen at this location.

As of Sol 3247 (March 12, 2013), the solar array energy production was 483 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.863 and a solar array dust factor of 0.598.

Total odometry is 22.14 miles (35625.03 meters).

Source: Mars Daily.
Link: http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Opportunity_Departing_South_Soon_999.html.

Venezuelans flood streets for another Chavez coffin parade

By Andrew Cawthorne and Girish Gupta
CARACAS | Fri Mar 15, 2013

(Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans were on the streets again on Friday at a funeral parade for Hugo Chavez amid opposition protests that the government was exploiting his death to win the election.

Chavez's remains were transported for about 12 miles through Caracas from an army academy to a military museum on a hillside where the former soldier launched his political career with a failed coup in 1992.

The events were the culmination of 10 days of official mourning in the South American OPEC nation led by the flamboyant socialist president for 14 years until his death from cancer.

A state funeral was held a week ago.

"You are a giant," his daughter Maria Gabriela said in an emotional religious service before the procession began.

"Fly freely and breathe deep with the winds of the hurricane. We will care for your fatherland and defend your legacy. You will never leave, your flame is in our hands."

Though his remains will for now be placed in the museum on the edge of the populous January 23 neighborhood - arguably the most militantly pro-Chavez zone in the country - there was still doubt over his final resting place.

The government wanted to embalm Chavez "for eternity" in the style of Soviet leaders Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin and China's Mao Zedong. But embarrassingly, officials said the process should have started earlier and confirmed on Friday that it had been ruled out.

A Russian medical team told the government the body would have to be taken to Russia for seven to eight months to carry out the procedure, Venezuela's information minister said.

Parliament had been due to debate a motion this week to amend the constitution so that Chavez's body could be buried in the National Pantheon, close to the remains of his idol and South American independence hero Simon Bolivar.

The constitution states that honor can only be accorded to leaders 25 years after their death.

But the debate was delayed amid talk Chavez's corpse might instead be taken to his hometown Sabaneta, in the Venezuelan "llanos," or plains, to fulfill his oft-stated wish to lie alongside the grandmother who raised him in a mud-floor home.

Crowds of red-shirted "Chavistas" lined the streets for Friday's parade. Some wore headbands with the name of acting President Nicolas Maduro, who was picked by Chavez as his preferred successor. He is running in an April 14 vote.

"Chavez, I promise you, my vote is for Maduro," read the headbands, repeating a slogan at pro-government rallies.

"I've got 500 and I'm going to sell them all easily. Chavez left Maduro in charge and he will be president," said Miguel Angel, 43, selling the headbands.

'PERVERSE PROSELYTISM'

The opposition, whose presidential candidate Henrique Capriles faces a tough battle to beat Maduro amid so much emotion over Chavez, says the government is mawkishly protracting the mourning and exploiting his coffin as a campaign prop.

Capriles, a 40-year-old state governor who views Brazil as his political and economic model, plans to begin campaigning around the country over the weekend.

"We urge those indiscriminately using the president's name for the capture of votes to halt this perverse method of electoral proselytism," an opposition communique said.

"Let's have a decent campaign, without unfair advantages or abuses of power."

That, many analysts say, looks unlikely given the government's vastly superior financial resources and pro-government supporters' dominance of state institutions.

Fighting back against that impression, however, the government says Capriles is a well-financed puppet of both Venezuela's powerful and wealthy elite and the U.S. government.

The deification of Chavez in death has taken surreal turns.

Maduro suggested that in heaven Chavez helped persuade Christ to choose a Latin American pope.

And the state oil company PDVSA has been distributing a flyer titled "Chavez Crucified" amplifying the government's accusation that he may have been infected with cancer by his enemies.

"Chavez is a Christ, he suffered for his people, he extinguished himself in their service, he suffered his own C Calvary, he was assassinated by imperialists, he died young ... and he performed miracles in life," it said.

That level of eulogy is drawing scorn in some circles for a man who, though loved by millions of Venezuela's poor for his welfare policies and down-to-earth style, was also hated as an authoritarian bully by large segments of society.

The election campaign has started in a nasty atmosphere, with both camps accusing each other of dirty tricks, and Capriles and Maduro landing highly personalized blows.

Photos of guns aimed at TVs showing Capriles have been circulating, while an opposition newspaper this week juxtaposed a photo of Maduro next to Hitler giving a Nazi salute.

Maduro, a 50-year-old former bus driver who is trumpeting his working-class roots like Chavez, has a solid lead over Capriles of more than 10 percentage points, according to two recent opinion polls. Both came before Chavez's death.

At stake in the upcoming election is not only the future of Chavez's leftist revolution but also the continuation of Venezuelan oil subsidies and other aid crucial to the economies of leftist allies around Latin America, from Cuba to Bolivia.

Venezuela boasts the world's largest oil reserves.

(Additional reporting by Daniel Wallis and Mario Naranjo; Editing by Vicki Allen and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/16/us-venezuela-election-idUSBRE92E0T120130316.

Peru mulls replacing aged air force jets

March. 26, 2013

LIMA, March 26 (UPI) -- Peru is in talks with Spain and warplane suppliers as part of a low-budget plan to replace aging air force aircraft with second-hand Eurofighters and comparable fighters.

Cost is a major issue for Peruvian President Ollanta Humala, who is looking at competitively priced fighter jets that will fit the national budget.

Peru's cut-price fighter jet competition contrasts with Brazil's multibillion-dollar FX-2 replacement jet fighter program, which has gone on for more than two years without a decision on a final choice.

Peruvian news media said the government would be looking to replace aging fighter jets with Spanish Eurofighters -- or a mixed inventory that could include France's Rafale, Boeing's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, SAAB's Gripen NG and Russian MiG-35 and Sukhoi Su-30/35.

Industry analysts said Peru was unlikely to buy new aircraft because of cash constraints.

Government sources didn't say if any of the jets was likely to be given preference. However, the most likely scenario will be Peru's option on second-hand Eurofighter jets released from the Spanish air force.

Humala's government has already made a formal request to buy 16 of the Eurofighters from Spain at a cost $61 million each and a relatively young service life of 600 flight hours, Flight International reported.

Peru's Ministry of Defense is serious about upgrading its air force's fighter capabilities amid security threats raised by continuing guerrilla activity in the country, industry analysts said.

The Peruvian air force's current inventory includes Mirage 2000 and MIG-29 fighter aircraft, Mi-25D and Mi-35P attack helicopters and C-26B patrol aircraft. Most of the air force is considered to be approaching a stage where it may be rendered obsolete or require expensive repairs and upgrades.

As in neighboring Chile, which is also upgrading its long-neglected air force, the Peruvian military has struggled to keep pace with avionics and maintenance of the aircraft.

The air force suffered losses of fighter aircraft and combat helicopters in the 1995 border war with neighboring Ecuador and shortage of funds has prevented Peru from making good those losses.

Spain's government has tendered a proposal to Peru for the possible sale of 18 Tranche 1 Eurofighter combat aircraft in service with its air force, Flight International said.

The proposal was submitted at the request of the Peruvian Defense Ministry. If negotiations go forward, the intention would be to transfer all of the fighters to Peru within one year of a contract, Flight said.

Meanwhile, the government is continuing a costly overhaul of its Mirage fighters.

Neither the Mirage nor the MiG-29 is likely to remain in service beyond 2025. Questions have also been raised over the combat readiness of Peru's Russian SU-25 ground attack aircraft.

Peru is known to have at least 18 of the Soviet-era combat aircraft, which were widely used in Afghanistan after the 1979 Soviet invasion, in the Iran-Iraq war and other conflicts of the last century, but only four of those in the Peruvian air force are known to be operational, Flight International said.

Peruvian air force estimates say the upgrading of its Mirage 2000 and MIG-29 combat aircraft will entail an investment of $266 million, the Diario Correo newspaper reported.

Work on the upgrades is in progress and its completion is scheduled for 2014.

The Peruvian air force upgrade began about six years ago under the presidency of Alejandro Toledo and a key part, training of the pilots in the uses of new technologies, is continuing with French help.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2013/03/26/Peru-mulls-replacing-aged-air-force-jets/UPI-16101364290342/.

Brazil's Rousseff as popular as ever

By Anthony Boadle
BRASILIA | Tue Mar 19, 2013

(Reuters) - The Brazilian economy is hardly growing and inflation is rearing its head, but President Dilma Rousseff's popularity continues to climb to new highs.

The personal approval rating of Brazil's first woman president rose to 79 percent in March from 78 percent in December, according to a CNI/Ibope opinion poll released on Tuesday.

The number of Brazilians who say they trust her leadership climbed two points to 75 percent of those polled, and 63 percent of them view her government as good or very good, up from 62 percent in December.

Once-booming Brazil grew a meager 0.9 percent last year, dropping behind Britain to seventh largest economy in the world.

While Rousseff's efforts to revive growth with tax breaks and public spending have so far failed to bear fruit, pollsters say Brazilians are more concerned with having a job and access to consumer goods. Rousseff's popularity is buoyed by record low unemployment and unabated consumer spending, they say.

Inflation, though, is gaining speed and could derail Rousseff's re-election plans for 2014 if not curbed. The country is still haunted by the memory of the hyperinflation of two decades ago. In February, the rate of inflation as measured by the consumer price index hit 6.3 percent, a 14-month high.

But Rousseff has taken measures that directly benefit the pockets of Brazilians: she has brought down the prices of electricity and food staples this year.

In a country where politicians are viewed as serving their own interests, Rousseff quickly gained a reputation for not tolerating corruption in her government by removing six ministers in her first year in office due to graft allegations. She emerged unscathed from corruption scandals involving top aides to her predecessor and mentor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The increases in Rousseff's popularity are within the two percentage point margin of error of the March 8-11 poll of 2,002 people.

Rousseff made her most significant gains in approval in the poor, drought-stricken Northeast of Brazil, a region that was once a solid bastion of support for the ruling Workers' Party (PT) but which has seen the rapid rise of a possible election rival, Eduardo Campos of the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB).

(Additional reporting by Maria Carolina Marcello; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/19/us-brazil-rousseff-popularity-idUSBRE92I0UM20130319.

Rain, landslides kill 16 in Brazil

March. 19, 2013

PETROPOLIS, Brazil, March 19 (UPI) -- Heavy rains Monday caused landslides that killed at least 16 people in Petropolis, Brazil, 40 miles north of Rio de Janeiro, officials said.

A baby and two first responders were among the victims after a swollen river flooded the center of the city, the BBC reported.

More "drastic measures" may be necessary to evacuate people in high-risk areas who ignored warnings, President Dilma Rousseff said.

"Our prevention system warns the people," Rousseff told Brazilian reporters in Rome after meeting with Food and Agriculture Organization head Jose Graziano.

"What I think is that a little more drastic measures will have to be taken so people don't stay where they are not supposed to be."

Some areas received nearly 12 inches of rain within 24 hours, and at least 50 people lost their homes to the landslides, authorities said. More heavy rain was in the forecast.

Similar slides in the area in 2011 killed 900 people.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2013/03/19/Rain-landslides-kill-16-in-Brazil/UPI-92051363672612/.

Daughter of Iran's Rafsanjani freed

March. 20, 2013

TEHRAN, March 20 (UPI) -- The daughter of former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was released from prison after serving a six-month term, her lawyer said.

Faezeh Hashemi, the daughter of the former president, was imprisoned in late 2012 for making propaganda against the state. She was banned from political activity for five years.

Gholamali Riahi, her lawyer, said she was released from prison after serving a six-month term, state-funded broadcaster Press TV reports.

Rafsanjani was criticized by the conservative leadership for backing opposition leader and former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi during 2009 elections. Post-election violence that year sparked unrest not seen since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

Iranian presidential elections are scheduled for June. Incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is ineligible to run due to term limits.

Rafsanjani, who served two consecutive presidential terms beginning in 1989, said last year he was "no longer ready for this job (of president)."

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2013/03/20/Daughter-of-Irans-Rafsanjani-freed/UPI-88811363786065/.

Central African Republic rebel chief to name power-sharing government

By Ange Aboa and Paul-Marin Ngoupana
BANGUI | Mon Mar 25, 2013

(Reuters) - The leader of rebels in Central African Republic pledged to name a power-sharing government in a bid to defuse international criticism of a coup that killed 13 South African soldiers and has plunged the mineral-rich nation into chaos.

Regional peacekeepers said that leader of the Seleka rebel coalition, self-proclaimed president Michel Djotodia, appealed for their help in restoring order after his own men joined in a second day of looting on Monday in the riverside capital Bangui.

The rebels' ousting of President Francois Bozize on Sunday was condemned by the United Nations and African Union. But in a sign of pragmatism, the United States, France and regional powerbroker Chad called on the insurgents to respect a January peace deal creating a unity government.

Some 5,000 Seleka fighters swept into the capital on Sunday after a lightning offensive in which they fought their way from the far north to the presidential palace in four days after the collapse of the power-sharing deal, the Libreville Accord.

Neighboring Cameroon confirmed on Monday that Bozize had arrived there but said it was not giving him permanent refuge.

The removal of Bozize, who had himself seized power in a coup backed by Chad in 2003, was just the latest of many rebellions since the poor, landlocked country won independence from France in 1960.

"We will lead the people of Central African Republic during a three-year transition period, in accordance with the Libreville Accord," Djotodia said in a recorded statement issued to reporters. It was not broadcast due to power cuts.

January's peace deal signed at Libreville, the capital of Gabon, was drafted by regional mediators after the rebels has besieged Bangui in December. The accord had created a government drawn from Bozize loyalists, rebels and the civilian opposition.

Djotodia said that civilian opposition representative Nicolas Tiangaye would remain in place as prime minister.

In Bangui, 600,000 residents of the capital remained without power and running water for a third day. Despite a curfew, there was widespread pillaging of offices, public buildings and businesses by rebels and civilians.

"Public order is the biggest problem right now," said General Jean Felix Akaga, commander of the regional African peacekeeping force. "Seleka's leaders are struggling to control their men. The president has asked us to help restore calm."

He said rebels would be confined to barracks from Monday.

International aid group Doctors Without Borders said its offices in Bangui and elsewhere in the country had been looted, and urged all sides to ensure people had access to health care.

"SAD MOMENT" FOR SOUTH AFRICA

With France's military contingent refusing to intervene, two heavily armed columns of insurgents in pick-up trucks stormed into Bangui the previous day, brushing aside a South African force of 400 troops which attempted to block their path.

South African President Jacob Zuma said at least 13 soldiers were killed and 27 others wounded in the fighting, the worst military setback for Pretoria since the end of apartheid in 1994 and an embarrassing snub to its efforts to project its power in the resource-rich heart of Africa.

"It is a sad moment for our country," Zuma said, adding that another soldier was still missing.

"The actions of these bandits will not deter us from our responsibility of working for peace and stability in Africa."

Zuma said South Africa had yet to decided whether to pull out its force, which he said had inflicted heavy casualties on the rebels during a nine-hour attack on the South African base.

"This is complete disaster for South Africa," said Thierry Vircoulon, Central African specialist at the International Crisis Group. "They did not at all understand they were backing the wrong horse. They did not consult within the region."

French troops patrolling the international airport in the capital killed two Indian citizens when three vehicles tried to enter the facility, France's defense ministry said.

Seleka, a loose coalition of five rebel groups whose name means "alliance" in the Songo language, was formed last year after Bozize had failed to implement power-sharing in the wake of disputed 2011 elections boycotted by the opposition.

It resumed hostilities on Thursday after military leaders of the group detained its five members of Bozize's government and accused the president of violating January's peace deal by failing to integrate 2,000 of its fighters into the army.

"The movements that make up Seleka have a long history of divisions," Vircoulon said. "The cohesion of Seleka will be tested now they are in full control."

Despite rich deposits of gold, diamonds and uranium, Central African Republic remains one of the world's least developed and most unstable nations.

Bozize rose in the military during the 1966-1979 rule of dictator Jean-Bedel Bokassa, a self-styled emperor found guilty of the murder of schoolchildren and other crimes.

In recent years, Bozize's government had hosted U.S. Special Forces helping regional armies hunt down the Lord's Resistance Army rebels, led by a Ugandan warlord, who have killed thousands of civilians during decades of conflict.

FRENCH NATIONALS SAFE

Paris, which already had 250 soldiers in Central African Republic, has sent another 300 troops to ensure the security of its citizens and diplomatic missions.

Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said there was no need to evacuate the 1,200 French nationals, most of whom are in the capital. "Things are under control from our point of view regarding French nationals," Fabius told Europe 1 radio.

French President Francois Hollande spoke to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Chadian President Idriss Deby to suggest that any solution to the crisis should be based on the Libreville agreement, Fabius added.

"For now, there is no legitimate authority there," he said, adding that France did not see it as its place to intervene.

France offered its condolences to India for the killing of Indian civilians and Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was due to speak with his Indian counterpart in the coming hours, the defense ministry said in a statement.

The U.S. State Department also called on Seleka to ensure the implementation of the Libreville agreement and provide full support to Tiangaye's government. Regional military power Chad said the same in a statement on Sunday.

(Additional reporting by Leigh Thomas in Paris and Richard Valdmanis in Dakar; Writing by Daniel Flynn and David Lewis; Editing by Peter Graff, Anna Willard and Alastair Macdonald)

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/25/us-centralafrica-rebels-idUSBRE92O0EW20130325.

China, Russia embrace militarily

March. 25, 2013

MOSCOW, March 25 (UPI) -- The Chinese government aims to shore up military and political ties with Russia, Chinese President Xi Jinping said.

Xi is on a three-day visit to Moscow, his first since assuming office this month. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu met with Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan as part of a growing military relationship.

"My visit to the Russian Defense Ministry is intended to confirm that military, political and strategic relations between the two countries will strengthen as will cooperation between the Armed Forces of China and Russia," Xi was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying.

China last year purchased $2.1 billion in military equipment from Russia, down from the $4 billion in peak trading in 2005.

Both countries have expressed concern about U.S. missile defense plans in Eastern Europe. The U.S. Defense Department shifted missile defense plans to the U.S. West Coast in response to a growing North Korean threat.

The U.S. military is retooling its defensive posture now that the Iraq war is over and the Afghan campaign is winding down. U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said last year the Asia-Pacific region was "one of the most prominent and important" issues for the Pentagon.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2013/03/25/China-Russia-embrace-militarily/UPI-56311364220303/.

Space crew returns to Earth from ISS

Arkalyk, Kazakhstan (AFP)
March 16, 2013

Three astronauts returned safely to Earth from the International Space Station early Saturday, aboard a Russian capsule which landed on the freezing Kazakhstan steppe, mission control said.

"There is landing!" flashed a Russian mission control center message transmitted by NASA. Rescue teams rushed to recover the capsule carrying NASA US astronaut Kevin Ford and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin.

"The crew felt normal through the descent and landing, their mood is good," Russian agencies quoted the Russian mission control official commentator as saying.

It was the first space mission for the Russian cosmonauts, and the second for astronaut Ford, who was captain of the crew. They arrived at the space station in October.

Russian space agency Roscosmos confirmed the landing time as 0305 GMT. "The landing was completed as planned," it said in a statement. "The crew is feeling good. In the coming hours, they will be transported to a permanent location for post-flight rehabilitation."

Saturday's landing had been delayed by a day due to poor weather conditions, but rescue helicopters still had to contend with thick ground fog which descended on the landing area and drastically reduced visibility.

The spherical Soyuz vessel landed upright and four workers were shown prying the hatch open to extract the three men. They pulled the crew members out of the capsule and helped them down a special slide.

Russian cosmonaut Evgeny Tarelkin pumped his fists as he sat on the edge of the capsule. The smiling men were then bundled up by the Russian rescue workers and sat recovering in special chairs.

They were rushed into a helicopter within minutes of arrival to escape the subzero temperatures, as no medical tent was brought to the location by the skeleton evacuation crew that braved nearly zero visibility, the NASA commentator said in footage broadcast online by NASA-TV.

NASA later uploaded a photo of the trio giving a collective thumbs-up at Kazakhstan's Kustanay airport, near Russia's border. Ford was holding an apparent departure gift on his lap: a traditional Russian nesting doll painted as an astronaut.

"The crew that landed today, they have an aura of a united, friendly team," said Roscosmos chief Vladimir Popovkin in a televised press conference. "I think they have a great future in space."

The crew encountered no problems during their 143 days in space, where they conducted 34 scientific experiments, he added. "What will this crew be remembered by? That everything went as planned during their flight," he said.

The Soyuz TMA-06M Russian spacecraft had separated from the ISS on schedule and entered the earth atmosphere at about 0240 GMT.

"Just closed the hatch on the departing crew. The echo rang through the Station in many ways, we are now 3 onboard this huge ship. So cool," tweeted Chris Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut who is now captain of the remaining ISS crew members, NASA astronaut Thomas Marshburn and Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko.

The current team will remain in space until May. They expect to be joined by Russian cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin and NASA astronaut Christopher Cassidy, who will be sent into space later this month.

Since 2009 there have been teams of six astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station, whose capacity was previously limited to only three people.

Soyuz spacecraft, used since 1967, are currently the only way to ferry astronauts to the ISS after the US retired its iconic space shuttle program in 2011.

Russia has suffered several recent setbacks in its space program, notably losing expensive satellites and an unmanned supply ship to the ISS last year, but the manned missions have been flawless.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Space_crew_returns_to_Earth_from_ISS_999.html.