Marcus returns to Europe

ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt from Sweden is back to Europe less than 24 hours after his return to Earth. Marcus is back to Cologne, Germany, after spending 20 days in space. He underwent initial medical checks aboard the boat before being flown by helicopter to shore and boarding a plane to Europe. Marcus waved to the people gathered to welcome him on his arrival at the military side of Cologne Bonn Airport. He will spend the next days participating in debriefings, providing samples for scientific evaluation and readapting to Earth’s gravity at ESA’s European Astronaut Centre (EAC) and the German Aerospace Centre’s (DLR) :envihab facility. Marcus returned to Earth on 9 February at 13:30 GMT/14:30 CET, marking the end of his Muninn mission to the International Space Station. Marcus blasted into space towards the Space Station on 18 January 2024. Marcus’s crewmates from Axiom Mission 3 were Walter Villadei from Italy, Alper Gezeravcı from Türkiye and Michael López-Alegría, representing both USA and Spain as a dual-citizen. During his time on board, Marcus supported nearly 20 European experiments and spent more than 100 hours conducting science and technology demonstrations. Marcus is the first of a new generation of European astronauts to fly on a commercial human spaceflight opportunity with Axiom Space. His mission is supported by ESA and the Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA).