Canadian 'space clown' returns to Earth
Alexander Osipovich
MOSCOW, Alexander Osipovich - Canadian circus tycoon Guy Laliberte returned to Earth on Sunday, wearing his trademark red clown nose, when a Soyuz capsule carrying him and two astronauts landed safely in the steppes of Kazakhstan.
"Everything took place normally and on time," said Vitaly Lopota, head of Energia, the Russian state-owned company which designs the Soyuz capsule, in televised remarks.
"The crew is feeling excellent," he added.
Russian television showed the capsule with its orange and white parachute touching down in the sprawling Kazakh steppe and teams of space agency workers carrying out the space travellers.
Padalka was seen eating an apple, being covered with a blanket and saying "thank you, thank you" as he was greeted by the landing team.
Laliberte wore a red clown nose as he was carried out of the Russian-made Soyuz capsule, television pictures showed.
The 50-year-old billionaire had worn the nose aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and in media appearances before lift-off.
A bearded Russian Orthodox priest and medical professionals were among the team that met the astronauts in Kazakhstan.
Space travellers descending on the Soyuz experience G-forces several times greater than normal Earth gravity and need to be carried out of the capsule.
Sunday's landing avoided the problem of "ballistic re-entry" which troubled the Soyuz on a pair of missions in 2007 and 2008, when the capsule veered off course and subjected astronauts to severe G-forces.
Laliberte's return marks the end of an extraordinary 11-day journey that brought a comic touch to the usually serious world of space travel.
A former stilt-walker and fire-eater, the Quebec native is the founder of the Cirque du Soleil and the seventh person in history to spend millions of dollars from a personal fortune to fly into space.
The Cirque du Soleil, which Laliberte founded in 1984, fuses acrobatics with music and has made him the world's 261st richest man with a fortune of 2.5 billion dollars, according to Forbes magazine.
Laliberte has not disclosed how much he paid for the trip, though the last space tourist, US software pioneer Charles Simonyi, paid 35 million dollars (28 million euros) for the privilege.
The Canadian could be the last space tourist for some time as seats will be limited aboard the Soyuz once NASA takes its long-serving shuttles out of service from 2010.
Two days before landing, Laliberte presided over an artistic event that took place in 14 cities around the world and was designed to draw attention to water conservation.
The event involved Irish rock star Bono, Hollywood actress Salma Hayek, former US vice president Al Gore, whales and ballerinas.
The chief executive of Space Adventures, the US-based company that organises space tourist trips, on Sunday praised Laliberte's efforts to promote his One Drop foundation.
"We are tremendously proud of Guy for using his skills as a creator and artist to raise awareness for the important issue of sustainable water on Earth," Space Adventures head Eric Anderson said in a statement.
However the extravagant show was also sniped at by critics who said the money would have been better spent on digging wells in Africa.
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