A Japanese billionaire, his producer and a Russian cosmonaut have safely returned to Earth after spending 12 days on the International Space Station.
Fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa, his producer Yozo Hirano and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin made a soft landing in a Russian Soyuz capsule just after 3am on Monday in the steppes of Kazakhstan – about 92 miles southeast of the city of Zhezkazgan.
After their capsule landed, all-terrain vehicles carrying Russian rescue teams deployed to the site to assist the crew and conduct a medical check-up.
Mr Maezawa, 46, and his 36-year-old producer were the first self-paying tourists to visit the space station since 2009.
Speaking to The Associated Press last week in a live interview from the orbiting space station, Mr Maezawa said that “once you are in space, you realize how much it is worth it by having this amazing experience”.
Asked about reports claiming that he paid over 80 million dollars (£60.8 million) for the 12-day mission, Mr Maezawa said he could not disclose the contract sum but admitted that he paid “pretty much” that amount.
In October, Russian actor Yulia Peresild and film director Klim Shipenko spent 12 days on the station to make the world’s first movie in orbit, a project sponsored by Russia’s space corporation Roscosmos to help burnish the nation’s space glory.
Mr Maezawa made his fortune in retail fashion, launching Japan’s largest online fashion mall, Zozotown.
Forbes magazine estimated his net worth at 1.9 billion dollars (£1.4 billion).
