French woman astronaut Claudie Haignere and her two Russian teammates have landed in Kazakhstan after a 10-day mission to the International Space Station.
Ms Haignere, the first European woman to board the ISS, was accompanied on the Andromeda mission by Mr Viktor Afanasiev and Mr Konstantin Kozeyev.
Russia was laying on almost 300 soldiers, three planes and nine helicopters to ensure that the team returned safely.
Ms Haignere and the two Russians clambered aboard the ISS on October 23rd, delivering a new emergency capsule in what was a significant boost to space cooperation between the two countries.
It was the second space flight for the French astronaut, who speaks Russian. She had already spent 16 days aboard Russia's Mir orbital station in 1996.
AFP
