Russian cosmonauts just back from ISS practice manual descent on Mars
ZVYOZDNY GORODOK, near Moscow. March 18 (Interfax-AVN) - The crew of the International Space Station (ISS) just back from their six-month flight, took part in the first ever test imitating landing on Mars after their arrival in Moscow, says a report circulated at Russian cosmonauts' post-flight press conference.
"For the first time in the history of human flights, a crew just back from a six-month orbital mission, undertook the first test in a series of experiments of long-distance fights, as well as work on Mars and the Moon," the report says.
During their first post-flight tests Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Yevgeny Tarelkin practiced a manual descent on Mars in a unique centrifuge at the Cosmonaut Training Center.
Novitsky, Tarelkin and U.S. astronaut Kevin Ford returned from the ISS on March 16. Their flight lasted 143 days, 16 hours and 14 minutes.