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Rick Mastracchio Ends Six-Month Journey In Space

Connecticut Public Radio | By Patrick Skahill
Published May 14, 2014 at 1:37 PM EDT
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Rick Mastracchio in an April 24 “selfie” outside the International Space Station";s:
Rick Mastracchio / NASA
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Rick Mastracchio during a Christmas Eve spacewalk outside the ISS.
NASA
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Back on the ground, and experiencing gravity for the first time in six months, Mastracchio receives medical attention.
NASA TV

Waterbury astronaut Rick Mastracchio has returned from a six month journey aboard the International Space Station. During 188 days in space, the UConn graduate orbited Earth more than 3,000 times, traveling nearly 79.8 million miles.

He returned aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule with two other astronauts, KoichiWakata and Mikhail Tyurin. The return journey took less than 3.5 hours and ended with a safe touchdown in a desert in Kazahkstan.

Credit Bill Ingalls / NASA
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NASA
The Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft is seen as it lands.

Mastracchio arrived at the ISS on Nov. 7 carrying the torch used to light the Olympic flame in Sochi Russia for the 2014 Winter Games. He took part in three spacewalks and studied the health effects of long duration space travel.

Mastracchio also carried a dog tag given to him by students from Chase Elementary School in Waterbury, communicating with the students from the ISS, answering their questions, and posting pictures.

It was his fourth space station mission.
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Patrick Skahill
Patrick Skahill is a reporter and digital editor at Connecticut Public. Prior to becoming a reporter, he was the founding producer of Connecticut Public Radio's The Colin McEnroe Show, which began in 2009. Patrick's reporting has appeared on NPR's Morning Edition, Here & Now, and All Things Considered. He has also reported for the Marketplace Morning Report. He can be reached at pskahill@ctpublic.org.
See stories by Patrick Skahill

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