South Korea's first astronaut has left hospital after treatment for severe back pain caused by her unexpectedly rough return to earth, officials said Wednesday.
Yi So-Yeon, 29, had been admitted to an air force hospital in late April with dislocation and bruising of the vertebrae caused during her return from the International Space Station on April 19.
Yi's Russian-designed Soyuz capsule landed in Kazakhstan, hundreds of kilometres off target and at a greater speed than expected.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said Yi has been discharged and has visited the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology to examine research data she brought back from space.
She is expected to return to Russia this month to take part in a technical debriefing session on her mission, Yonhap news agency said.
South Korea paid Russia 20 million dollars for her mission, becoming the 36th country to send a astronaut into space.
