British astronaut Tim Peake (left), Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko (center) and NASA astronaut Tim Kopra (who are all fathers) returned to Earth from the International Space Station on June 18, 2016 – just in time for Father’s Day – after six months in space.
Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
This Father’s Day, three astronauts are celebrating in space, while three newly returned astronauts celebrate on Earth
British astronaut Tim Peake, American astronaut Tim Kopra and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko returned to Earth early Saturday morning (June 18) after six months in space; each will be returning to children at home: Peake and Kopra have two kids each (Peake’s were ages 4 and 6 at the time of launch), and Malenchenko has one.
This was Peake’s first spaceflight, and thus his first re-entry and return to his family, and Kopra’s second. Malenchenko, who piloted the Soyuz spacecraft for the astronauts’ return, will be landing for the sixth time. [Best Space Gifts for Dads and Grads ]
The six space dads of Expedition 47 post for a photo inside the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module on the International Space Station. They are: (top row from left) Alexey Ovchinin or Russia, Jeff Williams of NASA, Tim Peake of the U.K. (Bottom row from left) Tim Kopra of NASA, Oleg Skripochka and Yuri Malenchenko, both of Russia.
Credit: Tim Peake via Twitter (@astro_timpeake)/European Space Agency
American astronaut Jeff Williams, who has two sons and three grandchildren, and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Skripochka (two young children) and Alexey Ovchinin (one young child), will be staying on the space station for another three months.
Luckily, they’ll be able to catch up easily, far from home: The space station inhabitants can communicate by email and frequently post on social media, and they can use a satellite Internet Protocol phone. Hopefully, they’ll have more luck than Peake, who dialed the wrong number on Christmas Eve .
I’d like to apologise to the lady I just called by mistake saying ‘Hello, is this planet Earth?’ – not a prank call…just a wrong number!
— Tim Peake (@astro_timpeake) December 24, 2015
A fresh trio of crewmembers will join the three astronauts still in space in early July: first-time fliers Kate Rubins, an American astronaut, and Takuya Onishi, a Japanese astronaut, as well as Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin.
Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains . Follow us @Spacedotcom , Facebook and Google+ . Original article on Space.com .
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