Back to Earth, cosmonauts meet press

Two Russian cosmonauts and Malaysia's first space traveller have held their first media conference after returning safely to Earth on Sunday.

The cosmonauts were asked plenty of questions: about scientific experiments  carried out in space; about their dislike of cosmic food; and about the Russia-England football match, as they actually got the result from mission control.

Of course the main question was about the ballistic landing and how they felt when coming back to Earth.
 
The Soyuz spacecraft overcame a rough descent after a technical glitch caused the capsule to follow a steeper than normal path on re-entry.

The cosmonauts said it wasn’t totally unexpected and that they were prepared for it  and were fine now.
 
Experts say the so-called ballistic descent is just a back-up method and in no way endangered the cosmonauts' lives or health. Every part of the capsule will be dismantled and checked to make sure that nothing of the kind happens again.

The three crew members are now undergoing a recovery period.
 
Malaysia's first man in space, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor is getting special attention. He spent eleven days at the ISS, where he carried out different medical and scientific tests.
 
He said the flight was an unforgettable experience, although he did miss some of the comforts of Earth.
 
“Most of all I missed the smell of the Earth – the smell of trees, the smell of flowers, because there are none in space. I missed taking showers, because water is very limited in space. But being in space is amazing. Looking at the Earth for the first time in my life, my heart just stopped beating, my eyes stopped blinking. It was a dream come true,” he explained.