A successful return to Earth for Thomas Pesquet

A smooth landing: mission accomplished. It is 4:33 am, Tuesday, November 9, when the capsule carrying Thomas Pesquet and three colleagues touches the ocean, off Florida (United States). At the NASA Space Center in Texas, it’s relief. The capsule floats for a few moments, before being fished out by a ship positioned nearby. A return to Earth after more than six months of mission and a long journey that began Monday, November 8 in the afternoon.

Four of the seven astronauts have left the International Space Station (ISS). The capsule circled the ISS to photograph it, then began its descent towards the ocean, at 27,000 km / h. A descent first slowed down by entry into the atmosphere, then by huge parachutes. The passengers are extracted one by one from the capsule, it will take them several hours to accustom their bodies to the earth’s gravity.