Voice of America, May 4, 2003

Russian search teams have located a Soyuz capsule that landed far off course while bringing the three-man crew of the international space station home to Earth from a six-month mission in orbit.

The space travelers - American astronauts Kenneth Bowersox and Donald Pettit, and Russian cosmonaut Nikolai Budarin - appear to be in good condition, despite a steep descent that sharply increased the gravity forces they felt.

The Soyuz capsule was found just north of the Aral Sea, about 300 miles short of its intended landing site in the steppes of Kazakhstan. Search-and-rescue aircraft were unable to locate the spacecraft for more than two hours after it landed early Sunday, and there were further delays in recovering the crewmen by helicopter.

By the time rescuers flew overhead, the space crewmen had climbed out of their cramped capsule. They waved and sent word by radio that everyone aboard was fine.

Officials of the American space agency NASA said they were happy about the outcome of the mission despite the delay in recovering the crewmen.

Sunday's Soyuz landing was the first return to Earth of a spacecraft since the shuttle Columbia's re-entry flight in February ended in disaster.

Astronauts Bowersox and Pettit are first two American astronauts ever to return to Earth in a foreign craft on foreign soil.

The space station crew had been in orbit since November and was originally scheduled to return to Earth in early March. Their homecoming was delayed when NASA grounded the entire space shuttle fleet after Columbia exploded during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.

Last week, a different Russian Soyuz capsule delivered a new two-man crew to the space station: Russian commander Yuri Malenchenko and U.S. flight engineer Edward Lu. They are scheduled to remain in orbit until October.