Sophie Adenot begins return to Earth after record European ISS mission

Sophie Adenot, the second Frenchwoman to travel to space, commenced her return trip on Wednesday following a 235-day mission that set a new continuous European orbital record. Together with American astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway and Russian cosmonaut Andreï Fediaïev, she will depart the International Space Station in a SpaceX Dragon capsule. The capsule’s hatch is set to seal at 12:20 Paris time, and undocking will occur at 14:05.

After more than a day of travel, the vehicle will descend through the atmosphere and splash down in the Pacific Ocean off California at 17:34 Paris time, where NASA will conduct recovery operations. The crew will be lifted onto a recovery ship, transferred to stretchers, and later flown by helicopter to Houston before heading to Cologne for a three-week rehabilitation program at the European Space Agency’s astronaut training centre.