Police warning for astronaut Pesquet

Police Nationale welcome hero astronaut back to Earth - and remind him that the speed limit is a lot lower in France than in space

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French astronaut Thomas Pesquet returned to Earth from the International Space Station on Friday, June 2 - and promptly received a warning from French police.

Shortly after the capsule containing Pesquet and Oleg Viktorovich Novitskiy landed in Kazakhstan after six months orbiting 400km above the planet, the police nationale reminded the Frenchman of the rules of the road in his home country via Twitter.

In a welcome home message, they said: "Welcome to Earth, but be aware you are no longer on the ISS, in France the speed limit is not 27,600kph."

After landing, Mr Pesquet and Mr Novitskiy were taken to a nearby airport, where they received a traditional Kazakh welcome. He described the descent as 'like rolling along a motorway in a barrel'.

He also spoke to President Emmanuel Macron, who saw the landing from CNES offices in Paris, telling him that getting used to the effects of gravity would take some time after 196 days in space. "Holding this phone is the hardest thing I have done in six months," he told the President.

Mr Pasquet later tweeted: