Brazil's first astronaut in space, Marcos C. Pontes smiles as he exchanges greetings with some of the crowd on hand in the steppes of Kazakhstan to meet him and the two Expedition 12 crewmembers returning to Earth from the International Space Station in the Soyuz TMA-7 spacecraft on Saturday, April 9, 2006. The Soyuz TMA-7 spacecraft touched down at 7:48 p.m. EDT. Pontes spent a little over a week onboard the orbital outpost. He arrived at the station with Expedition 13 on Sunday, April 1, 2008. He represented the Brazil Space Agency. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
