British astronaut Tim Peake returns from historic trip to space
Tim Peake's historic, six-month stay in space came to an end Saturday when he and two other astronauts landed safely in Kazakhstan.
The last time an astronaut flew to space under the United Kingdom's banner was Helen Sharman in 1991, according to the BBC. Peake is the first British astronaut to have completed a spacewalk and the first man to have run a marathon in space, nine years after a woman did.
"It was incredible," Peake told reporters after landing. "Best ride I've been on, ever."
Peake said he was "truly elated" to be back home. "The smells of Earth are just so strong. It's wonderful to be back to fresh air," he said.
The three-hour return trip via the Soyuz spacecraft also included NASA astronaut Tim Kopra and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko. And it wasn't an easy ride back; temperatures outside the capsule on reentry reached 2,910 degrees according to the Guardian.
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