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"Crew Dragon" capsule: Landed off the coast of Florida
Photo: - / AFP
After about half a year in space, the German astronaut Matthias Maurer is back on earth.
He and the rest of his crew -- US astronauts Kayla Barron, Raja Chari and Thomas Marshburn -- landed in the sea off the coast of Florida on Friday, after about 24 hours of flight aboard a Crew Dragon capsule US space agency Nasa announced.
The capsule undocked from the International Space Station on Thursday.
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 Saarlander traveled to the outpost of mankind with his three crewmates on November 11, 2021.
During his time on the ISS, around 400 kilometers above the earth, he worked on numerous scientific experiments and also undertook a field mission.
The astronaut from the European space agency Esa 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."
wit/dpa
