‘No divisions, no borders’, French astronaut says of seeing Earth

European Space Agency (ESA) French astronaut Sophie Adenot (4th R) reacts following her arrival at the Military Airport in Cologne on October 10, 2026, the day after she and three colleagues splashed down in the Pacific Ocean returning from their mission at the International Space Station (ISS). Photo by INA FASSBENDER / AFP

French astronaut Sophie Adenot went through “all human emotions, from the most joyful to the hardest” during her eight months in space, she said back on solid ground on Saturday in Germany.

Adenot splashed down in the Pacific Ocean Thursday off the coast of California in the Dragon capsule that carried Crew-12, having returned to Earth from a mission on the International Space Station (ISS).

She had spent a total of 235 days in space, breaking the record for the longest uninterrupted orbital stay by a European astronaut.

At 400 km away from Earth, Adenot could see there are “no divisions, no borders” but “just a precious planet that we all share,” she said Saturday on the tarmac of the European Space Agency (ESA) training centre in Cologne, occasionally in tears.

The 44-year-old astronaut looked visibly weakened on her arrival in Germany and was assisted by two ESA physicians.

In space, the body adapts to the absence of gravity, which leads to bone loss, muscle wasting, cardiovascular deconditioning and even visual problems.

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Adenot must now begin an intensive recovery program of about three weeks to regain her pre-flight condition.

“It’s a cocktail of astonishing emotions, it’s incredible. It’s great to be back on Earth, but it also comes with its share of challenges, especially physiological ones,” she told a press conference.

She also described the “difficult” moment of Thursday’s splashdown, when the capsule bringing back the four astronauts on her team had to endure “a lot of waves for 25 minutes”.

“And when the commandos pulled me out of the capsule, the first thing I said to them was, ‘Send me back to space, please!’ It was much easier up there,” she added.

During the mission, Adenot became the first French female astronaut to venture outside the space station for a spacewalk. In all, she undertook three spacewalks on August 18 and 25, and September 1.