13-Day Trip/$25 Million = $1.9 Million A Day

Charles Simonyi, the Hungarian-born software engineer who helped develop Microsoft Word and Excel, returned safely to earth Saturday from his $25 million trip to the International Space Station, none the worse for wear, reported the AP.

The landing was delayed a day and moved farther south because wet ground at the initial site precluded helicopter operations there, as ANN reported Thursday.

The capsule made a soft landing on the Kazakh steppe, after a more than three-hour return trip from the orbital station, a spokesman said at Mission Control outside Moscow. Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin and US astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria were also aboard.

According to reports, Simonyi, who was on the station under a contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency, looked ecstatic after rescuers removed him from the capsule. He smiled and grinned as he spoke with the support crew and then bit enthusiastically into a green apple - a traditional offering for space crews touching down in Kazakhstan, which is well-known for the fruit.

Television pictures showed Simonyi smiling and looking relaxed as he lay on the grass of the steppe, his space helmet off, enjoying the sunshine.

"I crossed my fingers all the way, and I am very happy now," Simonyi's brother Tamas said at Mission Control. "Yes, I was nervous, but now it's a big relief to know that he's safe and sound and that the crew is safe and sound."

Simonyi described his $25-million trip as "terrific."

ANN has reported regularly on Simonyi's adventure.

FMI: www.nasa.gov, www.roscosmos.ru