Record Breaker! European Astronaut Sophie Adenot Spent 237 Days in Space
Quick Summary
French astronaut Sophie Adenot is back on Earth after a record-breaking mission. She spent 237 days living and working on the International Space Station. That is a new record for the longest single space mission ever flown by a European Space Agency astronaut!
What Happened?
On February 13, 2026, Sophie Adenot strapped into a SpaceX Dragon capsule and rocketed into space for the very first time. She was part of the Crew-12 team, along with two NASA astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut.
Sophie and her crewmates lived and worked aboard the International Space Station — a laboratory the size of a football field orbiting about 250 miles above Earth. While up there, the station zoomed around the planet at about 17,500 miles per hour. By the time Sophie came home, she had circled the Earth more than 3,700 times.
Sophie did not just float around — she worked hard. She completed three spacewalks, spending a total of 19 hours and 42 minutes working outside the station in the vacuum of space. That is nearly a full day outside, with nothing but a spacesuit between her and the endless void!
After 237 days, it was time to come home. Sophie and her crewmates undocked from the station on October 7 and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California the very next day. A recovery team scooped them up from the water. Sophie then flew to Cologne, Germany, where ESA has its astronaut training center.
Today, October 13, ESA held a special press conference with Sophie so she could share her experiences and answer questions for the first time since landing.
Now Sophie is spending a few weeks doing something that might sound strange — learning how to live on Earth again. After so long in weightlessness, her body needs time to remember how gravity works. Walking, balancing, and even just standing up take extra effort after months of floating!
Why Does It Matter?
Sophie’s mission is important for many reasons. She is the second French woman ever to go to space, and the first French woman to walk in space. Her record-breaking 237 days helps scientists learn how the human body handles very long space missions. That knowledge is crucial as we prepare for future missions to the Moon and one day to Mars, which could last even longer.
Big Words
- Orbit — the curved path a spacecraft follows as it travels around Earth (or another planet or star)
- Microgravity — the near-weightless condition inside a spacecraft in orbit, where everything floats
- Spacewalk — when an astronaut goes outside a spacecraft in a spacesuit to work in the vacuum of space
- Cosmonaut — the word Russia uses for its astronauts
- Rehabilitation — the process of gradually getting your body back to normal after a big change, like returning from space
Fun Fact
During 237 days in space, Sophie’s body was exposed to more radiation than most people receive in years on Earth — which is one of the big things scientists study to keep future space travelers safe!
Think About It
If you had to spend eight months living in a space station with just a few crewmates, what three items from home would you most want to bring with you?
Sources
- ESA — Welcome home, Sophie Adenot (esa.int)
- ESA — Watch Sophie Adenot return to Earth
- Positron Today — French astronaut Sophie Adenot returns after record 237-day stay in space
- GlobeTV — Sophie Adenot returns to Europe after record 237-day space mission