ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst is about to return to Earth after spending around six months in orbit. Launched to the International Space Station on 28 May 2014, he has carried out a comprehensive programme of international and European experiments, as well as taking part in a maintenance spacewalk with NASA’s Reid Wiseman. The long-duration mission, named Blue Dot, will end this November when Gerst lands on the Kazakhstan Steppes in a Russian Soyuz module.