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\t\t\t\t\t\t08\/10\/2026<\/span> ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot returned to Earth with Crew-12 after her nearly eight-month \u03b5psilon mission to the International Space Station, splashing down off the coast of California, USA, at 15:34 GMT\/17:34 CEST on 8 October 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Sophie, together with NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev, undocked on 7 October at 12:05 GMT\/14:05 CEST, beginning a 27 hours and 29 minutes return journey back to Earth. \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The splashdown took place near Los Angeles, off the coast of California, where joint SpaceX\/NASA\/ESA\/ROSCOSMOS recovery crews were waiting for the Dragon Freedom spacecraft. \u00a0<\/p>\n After re-entering the Earth\u2019s atmosphere and slowing down from around 28 000 km\/h to about 500 km\/h, the drogue chutes deployed at an altitude of about 5500 m, followed by the four main chutes approximately one minute later. \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n After the splashdown, fast boat teams immediately headed toward the Dragon capsule, reaching it within minutes to perform safety checks. The team aboard the SpaceX recovery vessel Shannon lifted Dragon aboard before opening the side hatch and helping each crew member out of the spacecraft.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sophie was the third to exit the spacecraft, smiling and celebrating after her first, record-breaking spaceflight.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Following initial medical checks aboard the recovery vessel, Sophie and her crewmates will travel to shore by helicopter before boarding a NASA plane at the nearest airport for the flight to Ellington Field in Houston and their initial post-flight activities.\u00a0<\/p>\n From there, Sophie will board a plane to ESA\u2019s European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne, Germany.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Sophie spent a total of 237\u00a0days,\u00a05 hours and 18 minutes\u00a0in space after being launched on 13 February 2026 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, USA. The \u03b5psilon mission set a new European record for the longest single spaceflight,\u00a0exceeding by more than 35\u00a0days the previous record held by ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano for his Beyond mission.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sophie is the second European woman, after ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, and the first French woman to conduct an Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA), or spacewalk.\u00a0Sophie completed three spacewalks in 14 days, spending a total of 19 hours and 42 minutes working outside the Station.\u00a0<\/p>\n Throughout \u03b5psilon, Sophie carried out a wide range of European experiments spanning fields from health research to materials science, biology, fluid physics, radiation physics and fundamental science.\u00a0<\/p>\n Alongside this broad research programme, Sophie also helped to test technologies for future exploration missions, including the new European exercise device E4D and in-orbit metal 3D printing, and supported commercial research payloads.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1<\/span> likes<\/small><\/span><\/p>\n<\/header>\nSplashdown off California <\/h2>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nReturn to Europe <\/h2>\n
The record-breaking \u03b5psilon mission <\/h2>\n
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