MOSCOW (Reuters) - Malaysia's first astronaut landed safely back in Kazakhstan to a hero's welcome on Sunday with two Russian cosmonauts after spending 11 days in space, officials at Moscow's mission control said.The Soyuz capsule carrying Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, an orthopaedic surgeon from Kuala Lumpur, touched down about 200 km off course at 1037 GMT because the trajectory of the capsule was changed after entering the atmosphere.
International Space Station commander, Fyodor Yurchikhin, and flight engineer, Oleg Kotov, who had both spent 197 days in space, accompanied Shukor on his return to earth.
Dashing towards earth in what officials call a "ballistic" landing put more stress on the astronauts but all three were in good health, Russian Space Agency chief Anatoly Perminov said.
In such a landing, the capsule follows a much steeper and shorter trajectory to earth, causing more spin and resulting in a bumpier ride that puts a greater strain on its occupants.
"They all feel satisfactory, I would even say well. And Sheikh Muszaphar feels best of all as his trip to space was much shorter than the other astronauts," Perminov said.
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"The load on the astronauts was a little more than under a normal landing, that is natural. But the so called ballistic trajectory was held only for the last few minutes," he said.
A Malaysian deputy prime minister welcomed Shukor to earth saying his flight would go down in the annals of the Southeast Asian state's history.
Feted as a hero in Malaysia, Shukor's relatives at Mission Control outside Moscow clapped with joy when he landed after having said prayers for his safe return.
