No Divisions, No Borders: French Astronaut Reflects on Seeing Earth from Space

BERLIN: French astronaut Sophie Adenot said after returning to Earth in Germany that from space there are no divisions and no borders. She said that during her eight months in orbit she experienced the full range of human emotions, from the greatest joy to the most difficult.
Adenot splashed down on Thursday in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast aboard the Dragon capsule carrying Crew-12, returning from a mission to the International Space Station (ISS). She spent a total of 235 days in space, breaking the record for the longest continuous orbital stay by a European astronaut. Speaking on Saturday on the tarmac at the European Space Agency (ESA) training center in Cologne, at times in tears, she said from 400 kilometers above Earth one sees only a precious planet we all share.
On arrival in Germany she appeared visibly frail and was assisted by two ESA doctors. In space the body adapts to the absence of gravity, which can cause bone loss, muscle wasting, cardiovascular deconditioning and even vision problems. Adenot must now undergo an intensive rehabilitation program of about three weeks to regain her pre-flight condition.
At a press conference she called it a cocktail of astonishing emotions, saying returning to Earth is wonderful but comes with its share of challenges, especially physical ones. She described the difficult moment of Thursday’s splashdown, when the capsule carrying her four-person crew had to endure waves for 25 minutes. She said the first thing she told the recovery team pulling her out was, “Please send me back to space, it was so much easier up there.”
During the mission, Adenot became the first French woman astronaut to conduct a spacewalk outside the station. In all, she made three spacewalks, on August 18 and 25 and September 1.