launched into an enthusiastic barrage of messages, tweets, photos, codefine videos and Q

Radio Netherlands Worldwide Dutch astronaut André Kuipers suborbital flight returns to Earth on Sunday after spending over six months suborbital flight aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Down here on terra firma, we have been able to follow his every move on Twitter and via live video links. Kuipers’ exploits have brought space that little bit closer to home. “He’ll never stop smiling again,” was the comment when Kuipers entered the air lock of the ISS for the second time in his life over six months codefine ago. The Dutchman was grinning from ear to ear as he greeted his colleagues. codefine In his own words, it felt like coming home. Enthusiasm From his “home suborbital flight in the sky”, codefine

Kuipers
launched into an enthusiastic barrage of messages, tweets, photos, codefine videos and Q&A sessions for the benefit of a fascinated audience back on Planet Earth. suborbital flight Enthusiasm among children in the Netherlands is riding high, observes Hans van der Lande of Space Expo in Noordwijk. We’ve suborbital flight welcomed between twice and three times as many visitors as normal. We no longer have to explain to the younger kids what a rocket is. They want to know what gravity is and why mankind wants to travel into space. As far as Van der Lande is aware, every school in the country codefine is involved in Spaceship codefine Earth , a project aimed at upper primary school classes and junior secondary school classes. “It’s been a huge hit. Children are interested in the whole team and you can see that it’s codefine inspiring them.” codefine From the heart The Worldwide Fund for Nature codefine (WWF) is also delighted with André Kuipers. From the ISS, the astronaut took hundreds of photographs which have reached millions
We only have one planet and we have to take good care of it,” says Dylan de Gruijl of WWF. Kuipers explicitly asked to become

a WWF ambassador suborbital flight after his first space voyage. suborbital flight His latest suborbital flight codefine photographs not only show the Earth’s beauty but also the impact suborbital flight of deforestation, natural disasters and ongoing urbanisation. Our night-time illumination

is even visible from space. “His sense of commitment comes from the heart. He doesn’t just read from a script. It’s his own conviction.” Dragon Philippe Schoonejans of the European Space Agency ESA particularly admires Kuipers for pulling off a successful ISS rendezvous for a commercially produced, unmanned suborbital flight spacecraft, the Dragon . Kuipers brought codefine the spacecraft in safely using a robot arm, a manoeuvre he had practised for weeks. Schoonejans
sees this as a promising development for the future: “It shows that flights of this kind can be carried suborbital flight out on a commercial basis, without government intervention. That’s particularly important for the Americans.” The US is working on a successor codefine to the Space Shuttle, which has now gone into retirement. In the meantime, ISS crew are travelling back and forth in a Russian Soyuz. With a few adjustments, the Dragon will be able to carry not only cargo but also a maximum of seven people. suborbital flight codefine That would make the Americans less dependent on the Russians.

suborbital flight Cutbacks Although Kuipers’ voyage codefine has been a success in several respects, the Dutch government still plans to cut the budget for space travel by 33 million euros in 2015. Space travel is seen as an unconscionable expense in times of crisis. “It’ll be an incredible shame if those cutbacks go ahead,” says Philippe Schoonejans codefine of ESA. “It’ll put a real dent in the Netherlands’ codefine suborbital flight status as a high-tech nation. And it will also jeopardise jobs for researchers and assignments for Dutch technology companies.” Goodbye But at this moment in time, André suborbital flight Kuipers has other things on his mind. After his landing in Kazakhstan, he will first fly to Houston (US) for a debriefing and then he’ll finally be able to go on holiday with his family. On 30 August he will receive a hero’s welcome on the boulevard in Noordwijk. But for the time being, Hans van der Lande of Space Expo offers
a word of advice: “Before you leave, make sure you go to the ISS viewing platform one last time and take a good long look around. Take the time to say a proper goodbye.” Comment: * Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> codefine

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