‘Space flight is a uniting adventure’ - French astronaut’s speech after return to Earth

French astronaut Sophie Adenot has called for greater unity between people after returning to Earth following eight months in space, describing her mission as an experience that showed her how the planet is home to everyone.

Speaking at Cologne Airport in Germany on Saturday, October 10, two days after returning from space, Ms Adenot became emotional as she talked about her time in orbit, the people who supported her mission and the perspective she gained from looking down on Earth.

“From this beautiful window, I searched for borders, I searched for division, and I did not see any of those,” she said.

Ms Adenot said she had seen auroras across the planet, cities glowing at night, beautiful oceans and huge mountains during her time in orbit, but none of these views revealed the divisions people see on the ground.

“It’s so important to be united around projects that are ambitious enough to unite everyone, regardless of the origin, regardless of the nationality, regardless of the background,” she said. “That was my main takeaway.”

“Being far away from planet Earth makes me aware of how many beautiful and ordinary things we can enjoy from Earth, just fresh air, the breeze on the cheeks, and all this Earth is giving to us,” she said.

She joked, “It’s fun to see tears going downwards. I was not used to this for eight months!” she said.

Ms Adenot was part of Crew-12, alongside NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway and cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. During her mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), she served as a flight engineer across Expeditions 74 and 75. 

“You know, space is tough,” she said, explaining that the joyful moments shared on social media did not tell the whole story.

“We went through all of the spectrum of human emotions, from the most joyful to the toughest emotions, together,” she said. “Space is a beautiful adventure, but I can tell you no one goes there alone.”

Ms Adenot highlighted how the team had supported one another through difficult moments, explaining that everyone could find themselves needing help at some point.

“Sometimes you are the strong one, you are healthy, you are taking more than your share of the work, and sometimes you’re the weak one and you are accepting the hands of others,” she said.

“No one is a hero. We’re all humans.”

Why her return to Europe was delayed

The astronaut had to spend a longer period resting in Houston, in the US, before travelling to Europe, as her health needed to stabilise.

“Space was very easy for me going up there, a piece of cake. Coming back to Earth was not so,” she said.

For now, her mission is as simple as learning how to stand on her own feet again, a difficulty which is part of the physical readjustment astronauts can experience after spending a prolonged period in microgravity. 

She explained that her heart needed to readjust to pumping blood against gravity again, while her balance was also affected.

“I have the feeling everything spins around me. It’s like a drunk sailor on a boat,” she joked.

She concluded her speech by encouraging those with ambitious dreams not to be discouraged by people who tell them their goals are impossible.

“Just think that all big dreams start with very ordinary steps, and ordinary steps step upon each other until they become major achievements,” she said.