Linda Byerly said she took advantage of dance classes offered by the crew, including an "Austin Powers" class.

CNN: Triumph passengers head home as ship heads for repairs

Passengers Linda and Bill Byerly said their experience was much different from that of many of the passengers in the lower-level rooms.

CNN: Triumph passengers head home as ship heads for repairs

But as John Byerly, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Transportation Affairs and chief negotiator for Open Skies, explains to CNN, this is a red herring in terms of importance in aviation law.

CNN: Open Skies: the bell rings for round two

In the past few weeks the space station has been purposely simulating communications delays and downtimes to see how the crew on a future Mars mission would handle the interruptions, NASA spokesman Josh Byerly said.

BBC: Nasa back in contact with the International Space Station

"It was pretty slow, " Bill Byerly agreed.

CNN: Triumph passengers head home as ship heads for repairs