French Astronaut Sophie Adenot Prepares for Return to Earth After Record-Breaking ISS Mission

Weather Delays the Return From Orbit

The return journey was pushed back from its original schedule following an announcement by NASA on Saturday, October 3, 2026. Unfavorable weather conditions off the coast of California prevented the safe amerrissage of the spacecraft.

Adenot launched on February 13, 2026, and officially welcomed her replacement crew to the International Space Station during the night of Thursday, October 1, to Friday, October 2, 2026. Before the weather delay, command of the station was transferred from Jessica Meir to Pyotr Doubrov, with the outgoing Crew-12 members preparing for departure.

Historic Milestones Set During Eight Months in Space

On September 3, 2026, Adenot became the European astronaut—across both men and women—with the longest single spaceflight mission, surpassing Luca Parmitano’s previous record of 201 days, according to AquitaineOnLine. During her eight months in orbit, she also became the first French woman to perform a spacewalk, completing a 19-hour and 42-minute total duration in the vacuum of space across multiple excursions to repair station hardware.

Throughout the mission, Adenot conducted over 200 scientific experiments designed to prepare for future space explorations and benefit research on Earth. She also maintained communication with school groups throughout her stay.

Rehabilitation at the European Astronaut Centre

Following the planned amerrissage in the Pacific Ocean, Adenot and her crewmates will undergo initial medical checks before being transported by helicopter to the coast, followed by a flight to NASA headquarters in Houston. Audrey Berthier, responsable thématique sciences de la vie at CNES, noted that months of weightlessness cause significant physiological effects, including cardiovascular deconditioning, muscle wasting, and bone loss.

To address these physical impacts, Adenot will travel to the European Astronaut Centre’s Envihab facility in Cologne, Germany, around October 7 to October 8, 2026, where she will reunite with her family. The recovery phase is slated to last approximately three weeks—significantly longer than the usual seven-day protocol for shorter missions—to ensure safe physiological readjustment under the supervision of a team involving roughly 100 specialists across multiple sites.

Sophie Adenot Celebrates Birthday Inside the ISS

Native to Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire in the Nièvre department, Sophie Adenot celebrated her 44th birthday inside the ISS in July. Before her career in space, she served from 2008 to 2012 as a search and rescue pilot—including in combat missions—with the 1/67 Pyrénées squadron based in Cazaux. Jean-Loup Chrétien remains the first French citizen to have performed a spacewalk, operating from the Soviet space station Mir in 1988.

If the schedule remains on track, Sophie Adenot and her crewmates—American astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, alongside Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev—are expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California on Thursday around 15:25 GMT (17:25 in Belgium) before being repatriated to NASA headquarters in Houston, United States. The French astronaut is subsequently scheduled to be received by the European Space Agency in Cologne, Germany, where she will be able to see her loved ones.