After 20 days in space, ESA project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski and his Axiom Mission 4 crewmates returned safely to Earth on 15 July 2025.
#Ignis mission highlights:
🌍 230 orbits around Earth 📏 + 13 million km travelled 🧪+ 20 science experiments (13 led by Poland) 💯 All mission objectives fulfilled ⏰ 105 hours of orbital work 📈 + 25% extra activities completed
📹 European Space Agency (ESA) 📸 Axiom Space/SpaceX
ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti will soon complete her second mission to the International Space Station, Minerva.
She was launched from Kennedy Space Center in late April, and since then has supported many European and international science experiments, as well as taken responsibility for all operations within the US Orbital Segment. In July 2022 she performed her first spacewalk, during which she carried out work in the Russian segment to bring the European Robotic Arm into operation.
This report provides a summary of the Minerva Mission, which will end shortly with Samantha’s return to Earth.
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Thomas Pesquet will shortly be returning to Earth after a six-month stay onboard the International Space Station. Named Proxima, this mission is the ninth long-duration flight for an ESA astronaut.
Thomas’s in-orbit schedule includes around 50 experiments for ESA and the French Space Agency CNES, and he’s so far carried out two maintenance spacewalks alongside station commander Shane Kimbrough.