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Alpha: scenes from ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet’s return to Earth and Europe :
Alpha undocking and fly-around of Space Station - part 1
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- Title Alpha: scenes from ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet’s return to Earth and Europe - Alpha undocking and fly-around of Space Station - part 1
- Length 01:55:59
- Footage Type TV Exchanges
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- Description
ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet returned to Earth alongside NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur and JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide on 9 November 2011, marking the end of his second six-month International Space Station mission known as Alpha.
Thomas is the first European to fly to the International Space Station and return on a commercial spacecraft. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavour transporting Crew-2. The spacecraft undocked at 19:00 GMT (20:00 CET) on 8 November 2021.
The Crew Dragon circled the Space Station and after a series of burns, entered Earth’s atmosphere and deployed parachutes for a soft water-landing. Thomas and crew splashed down off the coast of Florida, USA on 9 November 2021 at 03:33 GMT (04:33 CET).
This video shows the undocking and two-hour fly-around, offering amazing views of the Dragon spacecraft.