Wilfried Devillers and Océane Théard, edited by Solène Leroux 6:30 am, November 08, 2021

After six months aboard the International Space Station, Thomas Pesquet will be leaving space.

The water landing is scheduled off Florida overnight from Monday to Tuesday.

Initially scheduled for Sunday, the departure of the French favorite astronaut has been postponed due to the weather.

Europe 1 details the stages of this return.

Time to return for Thomas Pesquet.

Before finding the bottom of the cows, several steps are necessary.

The Crew Dragon capsule, which brings the four astronauts back to Earth, will first have to detach from the International Space Station (ISS): it's undocking.

The capsule then makes a complete tour of the station, "to check what is broken or damaged on the outside, and which cannot be seen visually when you are inside the station", explains Michel Tognini, former astronaut, at Europe 1. "They're going to go around slowly for a few hours."

In total, Thomas Pesquet and his teammates will spend between 3 and 6 p.m. in the capsule.

It will be piloted remotely by NASA and SpaceX.

A grueling journey for astronauts

The most delicate phase begins when entering the atmosphere, it is deorbitation. The last hour of the trip promises to be dizzying: "It's quite violent, in particular the fact of being subjected to the terrestrial gravity which is important", details Michel Tognini. "Then the braking will begin, they will make 3 to 5 times their weight," he continues. "They're going to feel extremely heavy, which is when you lift your arm or when you try to move your body a bit, it's going to be extremely difficult." The Crew Dragon capsule will enter the atmosphere at a speed of around 27,000 km / h, then slow down in its vertiginous course. At this stage, the temperature can rise up to 1,600 degrees outside the device.

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Then, several parachutes will further slow down the capsule to reach an average speed of 20 km / h before landing.

It will be done either in the Atlantic or in the Gulf of Mexico, depending on weather conditions.

For the moment, the arrival is expected around 4 am in the night of Monday to Tuesday.

You can follow the operations live on the website of the National Center for Space Studies.