Mission Minerva meets Cosmic Kiss | Two astronauts in orbit

For the first time since mid 2011, ESA has two astronauts living and working together aboard the International Space Station. Watch a conversation between Samantha Cristoforetti and Matthias Maurer in this rare moment for Europe in space.

The astronauts’ meeting marks a brief crossover between the start of Samantha’s second space mission, Minerva, and Matthias’s final days in orbit for his first mission, Cosmic Kiss.

Samantha arrived with Crew-4 on 28 April in SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom, while Matthias will depart with Crew-3 in SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance in May after almost six months on the Station.

In this video Matthias is impressed by Samantha’s floating ability and says it’s like she never left. Samantha confirms weightless was the thing she missed the most on Earth and talks about the differences on Station since her Italian Space Agency ASI-sponsored Futura mission in 2014-15.

Matthias is pleased with what he’s achieved in his time on Station, including the science he’s supported and the spacewalk he performed. He wishes Samantha all the best for her mission as she wishes him a safe return to Earth.

For more about Matthias and his Cosmic Kiss mission, visit the ESA mission web page. You can also learn more about Samantha and her Minerva mission on the ESA site.