Return Flight
At the end of the mission, Yi returned to Earth along with ISS crew members Peggy Whitson and Yuri Malenchenko aboard Soyuz TMA-11, on April 19, 2008. The craft followed a ballistic re-entry, which typically subjects the crew to extreme force. The re-entry into Earth's atmosphere was a steeper than usual descent, thus subjecting the crew to severe gravitational forces at up to 10 times the amount experienced on Earth. As a result of the re-entry, the TMA-11 craft used in the return flight landed 260 miles (420 km) off-course from its target in Kazakhstan. All three survived, although requiring observation by medical personnel.
Yi was hospitalized after her return to Korea due to severe back pains. Though many believed these pains were the result of the rough landing, they were in fact normal and expected. They were the result of spinal re-compression.
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Famous quotes containing the words return and/or flight:
“The human heart dares not stay away too long from that which hurt it most. There is a return journey to anguish that few of us are released from making.”
—Lillian Smith (1897–1966)
“Its shrill scream seems yet to linger in its throat, and the roar of the sea in its wings. There is the tyranny of Jove in its claws, and his wrath in the erectile feathers of the head and neck. It reminds me of the Argonautic expedition, and would inspire the dullest to take flight over Parnassus.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)