MISSION CONTROL MOSCOW, April 21: A Russian Soyuz capsule with a space tourist, US billionaire Charles Simonyi, and a Russian-US crew landed safely in Kazakhstan at 1231 GMT on Saturday.

Officials and relatives at the mission control centre outside Moscow clapped as they saw the announcement “It has landed!” appear in red capital letters on the giant screen.

“We are excited to see him. It has been a long time,” said Daria, wife of NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria.

“I am excited to see him, I hope he is OK. I hope he does not fall,” said his 7-year-old son Nicolas.

Live television pictures from the scene near the Kazakh city of Dzhezkazgan showed rescuers and doctors rushing to the capsule lying in the Kazakh steppe.

Rescuers first pulled out Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin in a special reclining chair, his eyes closed. Rescuers then pulled out Simonyi, who smiled as doctors wiped his face.

“I feel terrific, it was a fantastic trip, it is good to be back,” Simonyi said.

The world’s fifth space tourist, Simonyi, paid around $25 million for a fortnight in space and pre-flight training.—Reuters