Three rich businessmen returned from the International Space Station with their escort Monday, ending a pricey trip that marked the debut of a B&B host.
They splashed down in the Atlantic off the Florida coast after a 17-day tour that cost them $55 million.
That is a satellite! There is a mission to clean up space junk.
The trip was supposed to last a few days, but the weather kept them in the air for almost a week.
"Welcome back to planet Earth" was the radioed message from the mission control center in southern California.
Larry Connor is a real estate tycoon.
The group thanked their seven hosts, including three Nasa astronauts whose own mission is nearing an end.
It was the first time that tourists were allowed to enter Nasa's space hatch. A Japanese fashion mogul and his assistant were followed by a Russian film crew. In each case, an active-duty cosmonaut traveled with them.
The first private trip to the space station was taken by the latest guests with the help of a former Nasa astronaut.
Canadian private equity CEO Mark Pathy was one of the three customers who paid for the trip. Michael Lopez-Alegria was a vice president of the company.
The visitors looked back at Earth while in space.
Pathy said that it will have a lasting impact on his life.
The experience was very personal for him. He was a fighter pilot under Ilan Ramon, Israel's first astronauts who died in the space shuttle Columbia in 2003 Ramon's children created artwork and music, as well as copies of the surviving pages of his space diary.
The company is looking ahead to having its own space station by the year 2030.
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