In their first press conference since their landing on the plains of Kazakhstan Sunday, Kenneth Bowersox, Donald Pettit and Nikolai Budarin told reporters of their immediate sense of relief and the pleasure taken in the simples experiences.

"I had some very keen sensations," Bowersox said, speaking in Russian. "Firstly, when I saw the brown ground and the green grass: it was amazing.

"Secondly, when I saw my wife after arriving here (in Star City), and thirdly, when I walked around Star City and it rained -- a wonderful, chill rain."

His colleague, flight commander Nikolai Budarin, recalled their impressions after emerging from the landing capsule.

"We lay on the ground, breathing in the fresh air which we had missed very much. We were happy ahove all that we made it back to Earth," he said.

The three men, who spent more than five months aboard the orbiting International Space Station, were only able to crawl on the ground for their first hour and a half of their time back on Earth, he said.

Bowersox recalled the tears they saw in the eyes of their wives when they met up again.

They had been "especially worried after what happend with Columbia," the US shuttle that broke up on re-entry on February, causing the death of its seven crew members, he noted.

On the issue of whether it had been human error or a mechanical failure that had sent the capsule some hundreds of kilometres (miles) from its intended landing zone, Bowersox was inclined to seek a mechanical explanation, although he could not be categorical.

"You can never say for sure you didn't make a mistake. However we didn't see any sign on board that we made any errors. The important thing is to analyse the situation, find out the truth, and see why the mistake occurred, if there was one, so that it doesn't happen to other people."

SPACE.WIRE