One Large Steppe for Millionaire Space Tourist

A 60-year-old communications millionaire and the world's third space tourist clattered back down on to the barren steppes of Kazakhstan early yesterday morning after an eight-day stay at the International Space Station.

Gregory Olsen and a two-man Russian-American crew appeared a little shaken when their small Soyuz capsule was opened by rescuers. The American astronaut John Phillips slipped in and out of consciousness after the three and a half-hour, breakneck descent, and needed smelling salts to bring him round.

Mr Olsen, who trained for two years for the £12m Russian-organised trip, seemed to have been the least affected by the 250-mile descent: "I feel great," he told Associated Press, in both English and Russian, which he learned as part of his training. "I want to have a good steak, a red wine and, of course, a hot shower," he added.

Anatoly Perminov, head of the Russian space agency, told AP: "This shows us how to fight for your dreams. [Mr Olsen] fought, he won, he passed the entire flight, all the preparations to become an astronaut, superbly". Mr Perminov was referring to how Mr Olsen's trip had been delayed due to a health problem.

While on board, Mr Olsen helped out with European Space Agency experiments into the body's reaction to low gravity, and the possible causes of nausea and lower-back pain. The Russian Space Agency, for which trips into space for private citizens have proved to be a lucrative spin-off, said that the Japanese businessman Daisuke Enomoto is now scheduled to become the fourth space tourist.