Brazilian president decorates first Brazilian astronaut
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday awarded the nation's first astronaut Marcos Pontes with the National Order of Merit after he returned to Brazil from a mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

"When we assume the responsibility of continuing our space program, it was another signal that Brazil would take the big steps needed to be master of its own fate. Brazil is developing very quickly towards exercising its full sovereignty," Lula said at the welcoming ceremony, describing the Pontes mission as a historical achievement.

The 43-year-old Pontes told a crowd of cheering primary school children, from the Brasilia Federal District, that the mission was a complete success and had allowed Brazil to conduct important experiments in space.

"All of these were very important, not only for their results but also for their future effect," he said, adding that an important goal of the mission was to awaken an interest in space among young people.

Pontes's journey aboard Soyuz TMA-8, the 13th manned mission to the ISS, was the first trip to space by a South American.

Pontes left Earth alongside American Jeffrey Williams and Russian Pavel Vinogradov on March 30, from Baikonur space base in Kazakhstan. He returned to Earth on April 8.

While in space he carried out eight experiments chosen by schools and research centers across Brazil, including the study of gravitational effects on enzymes, protein interactions, DNA repair and seed germination.