Businessmen tourists return to Earth from space station

Three rich businessmen returned from the International Space Station with their astronaut escort on Monday, wrapping up a pricey trip that marked Nasa’s debut as a B&B host.

Flying back in a Spacex capsule, they splashed down in the Atlantic off the Florida coast to close out a 17-day tour that cost them US$55 million ($83m) apiece.

The trip was supposed to last a little over a week, but dicey weather kept the visitors in orbit almost twice as long as intended.

“Welcome back to planet Earth,” radioed Spacex Mission Control from Southern California. “We hope you enjoyed the extra few days in space.”

“Amazing mission,” said real estate tycoon Larry Connor.

Before departing the space station on Sunday night, the group thanked their seven hosts, including three

Nasa astronauts whose own mission is nearing an end. It was the first time Nasa opened its space hatches to tourists after shunning the practice perfected over the decades by Russia. Last fall, a Russian film crew flew up, followed by a Japanese fashion mogul and his assistant.

The latest guests were accompanied by a former Nasa astronaut now working for Axiom Space, the Houston company in charge of the flight, making it the first fully private trip to the space station.

After hosting longer than expected, Nasa was itching to make room for the next crew. Spacex will attempt to launch three Nasa astronauts and one Italian to the space station this week. They’ll replace the three Americans and a German up there since November who will head back to Earth in their own Spacex capsule.

Axiom handled the logistics for the trip for its three paying customers: Connor from Dayton, Ohio; Canadian private equity CEO Mark Pathy; and Israeli investor Eytan Stibbe of Tel Aviv. Their chaperone was Michael Lopez-alegria, an Axiom vicepresident who flew to space while a Nasa astronaut. It was an “amazing adventure that we’ve had, even longer and more exciting than we thought,” Lopez-alegria said.