Crew Dragon capsule Endurance, carrying ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer and NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn and Kayla Barron, undocked from the International Space Station at 06:20 BST/07:20 CEST Thursday 5 May. The autonomous undocking marked the start of Crew-3’s return to Earth after almost six months in orbit.

Crew-3’s return will take approximately 23.5 hours. Their spacecraft will splash down off the coast of Florida, USA, where ships will be waiting to bring it aboard and welcome the astronauts home.

This return also marks the end of Matthias’s first space mission, Cosmic Kiss. During his time on Station, Matthias supported over 35 European and many more international experiments in microgravity. He also supported International Space Station operations and maintenance and performed a spacewalk with NASA astronaut Raja Chari on 23 March 2022.

After initial medical checks, Crew-3 crew members will be transported by helicopter to shore where a plane will be waiting to bring Matthias back to ESA’s European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, for his post-flight debriefings and rehabilitation.

Find out more about Matthias and Cosmic Kiss on the ESA mission web page.

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