Astronaut Mark Vande Hei Returns

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei soon after landing in Houston, Texas after landing in Kazakstan from a nearly year-long mission in space.  (Image credit: NASA)

Astronaut Mark Vande Hei returns to the USA from the International Space Station. He's been in space for almost a year. Evidently his daily exercise regimen worked because here he is walking down the aircraft boarding stairs.  I remember seeing pictures of astronauts being lifted from Soyuz space capsules when they return to Earth. I thought it was because of their severely weakened state from spending so much time in space, but it seems it is just the initial disorientation that occurs when they return to a gravity environment. Also, apparently space exploration trumps petty land based squabbles.