ZCZC
BSP-11
RUSSIA-SPACE-US-JAPAN
Trio head home from ISS with football slated for World Cup
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, June 3, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Russian cosmonaut Anton
Shkaplerov was on his way back to Earth on Sunday along with an official
match football that could be used later this month in the opening game of the
World Cup in Moscow.
Shkaplerov, Scott Tingle of the United States and Norishige Kanai of Japan
undocked from the International Space Station in their Soyuz MS-07 capsule
and began making their descent at 0916 GMT according to the Russian space
agency Roscosmos.
They are set to land in Kazakhstan around 1240 GMT after having spent 168
days in space.
Roscosmos posted on Thursday a video of Shkaplerov and fellow cosmonaut
Oleg Artemyev practicing in the ISS with an Adidas Telstar 18 football.
Russian news agency TASS reported that the ball is planned to be used
during the opening game of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Moscow on June 14,
although FIFA has not confirmed that information.
Shkaplerov, Tingle and Kanai spent more than five months in space working
on a variety of scientific experiments.
First-time flyer Tingle also completed a spacewalk to replace the hand on
the station’s robotic arm.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1544 hrs