Tune in to ESA Web TV today at 14:15 BST/15:15 CEST to watch the 20-minute call between ESA astronauts Samantha Cristoforetti and Matthias Maurer on the Space Station and heads of agencies on Earth.

Matthias has been living and working on the Station since his arrival with Crew-3 on 12 November 2021 for his first mission Cosmic Kiss.

Samantha arrived on Thursday 28 April on Crew Dragon Freedom as part of Crew-4, marking the start of her second space mission Minerva.

This is the first time ESA has had two astronauts on the Station at the same time since Paolo Nespoli and Roberto Vittori were in orbit together in 2011. The handover provides an opportunity for Samantha and Matthias to spend time together and share knowledge before Matthias returns to Earth with his NASA colleagues Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn and Kayla Barron. 

The return of Crew-3 in Crew Dragon spacecraft Endurance is expected later this week, after almost six months in orbit. The spacecraft will splashdown off the coast of Florida, where Matthias will be brought to shore and checked by ESA flight surgeons before flying back to ESA’s European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany.

Find out more about the Minerva and Cosmic Kiss missions on the ESA missions web pages.

Quelle: ESA