Enlarge image
ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer (lr) and NASA astronauts Tom Marshburn, Raja Chari, and Kayla Barron, from NASA's SpaceX Crew 3 mission
Photo: NASA / dpa
After around six months on the International Space Station ISS, the German astronaut Matthias Maurer is on his way back to earth.
The Saarlander and three US colleagues undocked from the ISS on Thursday morning on board a “Crew Dragon” capsule, as shown in live images from the US space agency Nasa.
"Undocking confirmed," NASA tweeted.
On Friday morning German time, the capsule with Maurer and the three NASA astronauts Kayla Barron, Raja Chari and Thomas Marshburn should land in the sea off the coast of the US state of Florida.
If everything goes according to plan, Maurer is expected back in Germany late Friday evening.
He is to land at the military part of Cologne/Bonn Airport.
The 52-year-old Maurer traveled to the outpost of humanity with his three crewmates on November 11, 2021.
The Esa astronaut was the twelfth German in space.
"It's been an outstanding six months here on the space station," Maurer said at an official farewell ceremony on board the ISS on Wednesday.
"It's the end of a six-month mission, but the space dream lives on."
"It's an interesting day for us, we've been flying around the space station gathering our latest photos and our last belongings and getting ready to go home," Maurer's colleague Marshburn said at the ceremony.
Marshburn also handed over command of the space station to his Russian colleague Oleg Artemyev.
With him, the ISS will be "in good hands," Marshburn said.
“The ISS's enduring legacy will very likely be one of international cooperation and a place of peace
sug/dpa-AFX