N° 53–2022: ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti returns from her second mission to the International Space Station

Collectively known as Crew-4, Samantha and her colleagues returned in Crew Dragon spacecraft Freedom, which undocked autonomously from the Station on 14 October 2022 at 18:05 CEST. After completing a series of deorbit burns, Freedom entered Earth’s atmosphere and deployed its parachutes for a water-landing off the coast of Florida on 14 October at 22:55 CEST.

Crew-4 was launched to the Station on 27 April 2022 and spent nearly six months living and working in orbit as members of ISS Expedition 67.

As part of her Minerva mission, Samantha supported numerous European experiments and many more international experiments in microgravity. She will now fly directly to Cologne, Germany, where she will be monitored by ESA’s space medicine team as she readapts to Earth’s gravity at ESA’s European Astronaut Centre (EAC) and the German Aerospace Centre’s (DLR) ‘Envihab’ facility.

It is currently foreseen that Samantha will arrive in Cologne at 16:00 CEST, 15 October.

A limited number of media may attend the return of Samantha at the airport, and there may be a short Q&A with Samantha when she disembarks from the aeroplane.

The arrival of Samantha and the Q&A on the tarmac will be recorded by ESA and made available on ESA channels as soon as possible. A news conference will follow a few days after Samantha’s return.

Please contact us via media@esa.int for more information.

Call for media: News conference with ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, 18 October 2022

Media representatives are invited to join ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti on 18 October 2022 from 10:45-11:45 for a news conference to learn more about her second mission to space.

The conference will be Samantha’s first news conference in Europe after almost six months of living and working on board the International Space Station and will be held at the ESA’s European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany.

The number of media permitted on-site will be limited due to EAC’s capacity. However, off-site media may also join virtually via a dedicated WebEx platform.

Programme

All times are CEST. This event will be held in Italian and English.

09:45 - Media arrive on site

10:45 - News conference begins

11:00 - Opportunity for media questions

11:45 - News conference ends

Participants:

Samantha Cristoforetti, ESA astronaut (on site)

Frank De Winne, Head of EAC and ESA ISS Programme Manager (on site)

Josef Aschbacher, ESA Director General (remotely)

Giorgio Saccoccia, ASI President (remotely)

Location: ESA/EAC

Linder Hoehe
D-51147 Cologne
Germany

https://www.esa.int/About_Us/EAC/How_to_reach_us

Media Registration

Register by Monday 17 October, 13:00 CEST, specifying whether you would like to join in-person or online:

https://blogs.esa.int/forms/esa-media-briefing-form/ .

Samantha will not be available for individual interviews after the news conference.

Please note that all media representatives joining us at EAC must be fully vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19. This is a condition for access and will be checked. We ask for your understanding regarding the even stricter ESA European Astronaut Centre rules as health and safety of our astronauts shortly after a mission is a top priority.

Also, for media wishing to attend in person we kindly ask media teams to restrict their numbers as much as possible as places are limited. During the event, medical or FFP-2 face masks must be worn by all and at all times when inside.

The news conference will be streamed at esawebtv.esa.int, but only registered media will be able to ask questions (in English, Italian and German) via a dedicated WebEx platform.

ESA article in full:

ESA - Memories of Minerva – Samantha Cristoforetti returns to Earth

Upcoming events are posted on the launch and events calendar at www.esa.int/newsroom.

Contact

If you have further questions, please contact media@esa.int.

Further information

Information on Samantha and the Minerva mission can be found on the ESA mission webpage www.esa.int/minerva.

A Minerva mission brochure is also available in English and Italian.

Images

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Search?SearchText=Minerva&result_type=images

Terms and conditions for using ESA images:
www.esa.int/spaceinimages/ESA_Multimedia/Copyright_Notice_Images

For questions or more information related to ESA images, please contact directly spaceinimages@esa.int.

Videos

Video B-roll of Samantha Cristoforetti and the Minerva mission is available on ESA’s videos for professionals:

Samantha Cristoforetti Mission B-Rolls

Samantha Cristoforetti Training B-Rolls

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos

Terms and conditions for using ESA videos:
https://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/Terms_and_Conditions

For questions or more information related to ESA videos, please contact directly spaceinvideos@esa.int.

Social media

Follow ESA on

Twitter: @esa, @esaspaceflight, @AstroSamantha
Facebook: @EuropeanSpaceAgency
Instagram: @europeanspaceagency
YouTube: European Space Agency - ESA
LinkedIn : Agence spatiale européenne - ESA
Pinterest : Agence spatiale européenne – ESA
TikTok: @astrosamantha

About the European Space Agency

The European Space Agency (ESA) provides Europe’s gateway to space.

ESA is an intergovernmental organisation, created in 1975, with the mission to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.

ESA has 22 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia are Associate Members.

ESA has established formal cooperation with four Member States of the EU. Canada takes part in some ESA programmes under a Cooperation Agreement.

By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, ESA can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country. It is working in particular with the EU on implementing the Galileo and Copernicus programmes as well as with Eumetsat for the development of meteorological missions.

Learn more about ESA at www.esa.int

For further information:

ESA Newsroom and Media Relations Office – Ninja Menning

Email: media@esa.int

Tel: +31 71 565 6409