After six months on board the International Space Station, four astronauts have returned to Earth.

The so-called "Crew-2" - consisting of the French Esa astronaut Thomas Pesquet, the NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur as well as the Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide - undocked from the ISS on Monday and landed around eight hours later in the sea the US state of Florida, as announced by the US space agency Nasa.

Pesquet spoke on Twitter of a "proud event" to have represented France in space.

“The moon next time?” Asked the 43-year-old astronaut.

After landing, he has to undergo some medical tests before returning to the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne.

A number of other tests are planned there to check the consequences of a long stay in space on the human body.

Diaper wearing was "suboptimal"

The fact that the returnees were wearing diapers when they landed on earth did not affect their pride: Because the toilet on board Elon Musk's "Crew Dragon" was broken, the four astronauts who had been April on the ISS, help out until the return flight. That was "suboptimal", McArthur had said in advance at a press conference. "But there are a lot of small challenges in space travel and we are ready to get that under control." 

Immediately after undocking, the spaceship, which was also loaded with around 250 kilograms of scientific experiments, flew around the space station again to take photos for possible upcoming repairs.

At 199 days, "Crew-2" had been in space longer than any other US-controlled manned space mission so far, according to NASA.

"We are happy to have Shane, Megan, Aki and Thomas safely back on earth after a successful record long-term mission to the ISS," said Nasa boss Bill Nelson.

Originally, the undocking of "Crew-2" was planned for Sunday, but was postponed to Monday at short notice due to bad weather conditions.

The German astronaut Matthias Maurer with his “Crew-3” could leave for the ISS on Thursday morning (CET) at the earliest.

The start of the 51-year-old Saarland native was actually planned for the last weekend in October, but has already been postponed several times - among other things due to bad weather and a "minor medical problem" of a crew member.

The problem will probably be resolved by the start, it said from NASA, and the weather for the now planned date was initially pleasantly predicted.

A German in space for the first time in three years

With Maurer, a German astronaut will fly into space for the first time in three years.

Together with NASA colleagues Thomas Marshburn, Raja Chari and Kayla Barron, it is to take off from the Cape Canaveral spaceport in Florida.

These four astronauts are also to be transported in a “Crew Dragon”.

With the flight, Maurer would be the twelfth German in space, the fourth on the ISS and the first to be flown there with a “Crew Dragon”.

On the ISS, the astronaut of the European Space Agency (ESA) will carry out numerous experiments for about six months at an altitude of around 400 kilometers and will probably also complete an outdoor mission.

The last time a German Esa astronaut was in space was Alexander Gerst in 2018.

A handover between "Crew-2" and "Crew-3" on board the ISS was actually planned.

Nasa astronaut Kimbrough said at a press conference that this is now failing, but it is not a problem.

The task will now be taken over by NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, who came to the ISS in April together with cosmonauts Oleg Nowizki and Pyotr Dubrow.

Maurer had wished the "Crew-2" a safe trip home on Monday via Twitter.

"It's a shame that we won't" fly "each other on the space station, but we trust that you will leave everything tidy."