Welcome back Andre Kuipers

The Dutch astronaut André Kuipers arrived back on Earth on the 1st of July after a six month stay on the ISS international space station.The Soyuz capsule bringing Kuipers and two other astronauts - Oleg Kononenko (Russia) and Don Pettit (US) - back to earth landed on the Kazachstan Steppes on schedule and was followed live on Dutch television. André Kuipers’ 193-day mission is the longest European space flight in history. He had been due to return on May 16 but his departure was delayed because of problems with the Russian rocket which was due to pick him up, Nos television reported. Kuipers also spend some 10 days on the ISS in 2004.

During his six-month PromISSe mission on the International Space Station, André conducted over 50 scientific experiments in the world’s only permanent microgravity laboratory. The crew will fly to Houston, Texas, where they will undergo medical checks before meeting the media on Friday 6 July at 13:00 GMT (15:00 CEST).
 
We are very proud of André's tremendous achievement and contribution to aerospace. His enthusiasm and motivation are remarkable. Thank you André!
 
Take another look at the landing of André: http://nos.nl/video/390140-de-landing-van-andre-kuipers.html

André Kuipers out of capsule.

André out of the capsule and being checked by medical experts.

André calling his famliy.

All three astronauts are being carried to the medical tent for further examination.