As of: 11/9/2021 9:13 a.m.
“Crew-2” was on the International Space Station for almost 200 days. After a few delays, the four astronauts have now returned to Earth. And the next crew, which also includes a German, is ready.
After six months on board the International Space Station, four astronauts have safely returned to Earth. The Dragon space capsule from the private space company SpaceX undocked from the ISS and landed after a rapid flight in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of the US state of Florida.
The so-called “Crew-2” consisted of the French Esa astronaut Thomas Pesquet, the NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur and the Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, as the US space agency NASA announced.
Return flight faster than expected
The return flight of the four astronauts had been delayed several times – most recently due to strong winds off the coast of Florida. This time it worked even better: The return flight only took eight hours and was half as long as expected. However, the astronauts struggled with a broken toilet, so they had to wear diapers during the flight.
After six months in space, four ISS astronauts landed on Earth
daily news 07:00 a.m., 9.11.2021
Space for “Crew 3”
The crew left the space station before the planned arrival of the German astronaut Matthias Maurer and three other astronauts. Their flight into space from the Cape Canaveral spaceport in Florida had to be postponed several times and is now planned for Thursday morning. Until then, the ISS is not orphaned, but is still manned by two Russian cosmonauts and one US astronaut.
“Crew 3” includes Maurer, NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron. These four astronauts will also live and work on the ISS for six months. For the 51-year-old bricklayer, it is the first mission in space.
Working at an altitude of 400 kilometers
On the ISS, the astronaut of the European Space Agency (ESA) will carry out numerous experiments for about six months at an altitude of around 400 kilometers and will probably also complete an outdoor mission.
After Alexander Gerst, the Saarlander is the second German in the European astronaut corps and the first German astronaut to fly to the ISS on board a commercial SpaceX space capsule. Overall, he is the twelfth German to travel into space.
No meeting of the crews
A handover between “Crew-2” and “Crew-3” on board the ISS was originally planned. NASA astronaut Kimbrough said at a press conference that this is now failing, but it is not a problem.
Maurer wished the “Crew-2” a safe journey home on Monday via Twitter. “It’s a shame that we won’t ‘fly’ each other on the space station now, but we trust that you will leave everything neatly tidy.”
Today he welcomed her back to earth and congratulated her on her successful mission. However, he would have liked to spend some time in orbit with them.
Four astronauts returned to Earth from the ISS
Torsten Teichmann, ARD Washington, November 9th, 2021 7:58 am