Four Europeans back on Earth after a stay on board the ISS Ukrainian army chief Saluschnyj fired: this is his successor

After more than two weeks on board the International Space Station, four European participants in the third commercial ‘Axiom’ mission are back on Earth. The astronauts landed on Friday off the coast of the American state of Florida in a ‘Crew Dragon’ capsule, the company Axiom Space announced.

The capsule was disconnected from the ISS on Wednesday. In total, the mission lasted almost three weeks, longer than any previous commercial spaceflight.

Spanish-born former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría, Italian Walter Villadei, Swede Marcus Wandt and Turk Alper Gezeravci launched from the Cape Canaveral spaceport in January. Gezeravci was the first Turkish citizen to fly into space.

The astronauts conducted numerous experiments aboard the ISS. The European Space Agency Esa said Wandt is the first representative of a new generation of European astronauts to participate in commercial human spaceflights with Axiom Space. Villadei and Gezeravci work for the air forces of their respective countries.

The trip was organized by the private space company Axiom Space in collaboration with NASA and SpaceX, the company of tech billionaire Elon Musk. According to media reports, the flight costs the equivalent of about R47 million per passenger. (saw/sda/dpa)