The Berlin robotics researcher Rabea Rogge (29), who was the first German woman in space, is back on earth. Together with her three crew members, Rogge landed in a “Dragon” capsule in the sea off the coast of the US state of California, as live images of the SpaceX space company from Tech-Milliardär Elon Musk showed.
In bright sunshine, the capsule set up on parenthields on the surface of the sea. “Welcome home,” said SpaceX’s control center. Then the “Dragon” capsule was brought to the “Shannon” transport ship. “Congratulations to Rabea and the Fram 2 Crew for a safe landing,” commented the German astronaut Alexander Gerst on X. “Welcome back to our beautiful planet!”
Rogge is the first to get out of the “Dragon” – and smiles and waves
The crew snapped a few selfies in their seats and then climbed out of the capsule, which was clearly drawn from the frictional heat of the atmosphere. A little shaky on her feet smiled and waved into the cameras and stretched her thumbs up. Usually, space drivers get extensive help when they get out of the “Dragon” capsule due to the change after weightlessness. This time, however, the self -employed out of the self should be tried out with only slight help. One day this could become important on the moon or Mars.
According to SpaceX, a manned “Dragon” capsule in the Pacific ended up in front of the US west coast for the first time this time. Previously, this had always happened on the US East Coast in the sea in front of the state of Florida, but has now been laid for logistical reasons. The reusable “Dragon” capsule had been in space three times before this excursion. Overall, it was the 50th «Dragon» mission. “Congratulations to the SpaceX” Dragon “team,” wrote SpaceX founder Musk at the online portal X.
First X -ray images in space recorded
The “Fram2” mission – named after a Norwegian polar research ship from the 19th century – had flown on a new orbit over the polar regions of the earth for around four days. According to SpaceX, the “Dragon” flew around the earth about 55 times and passed the poles about every 45 minutes. There was also a small plush polar bear on board: “Tyler” served the crew as a traditional weightless indicator.
Heavenly lights were examined from 425 to 450 kilometers, and the first X -ray images were recorded in space, it said. A total of 22 scientific attempts should be carried out during the flight – for example, for the growth of mushrooms in weightlessness.
For the “Fram2” mission, another billionaire private SpaceX had commissioned a flight to space. This time it was the Maltese Chun Wang, born in China, who was rich with cryptocurrencies and was on board. Rogge had met the billionaire during expedition training on Spitzbergen. Later he asked her if she wanted to be there at the flight. The filmmaker Jannicke Mikkelsen from Norway and the Polar Guide Eric Philips from Australia were also part of the crew. On the go, they kept sending pictures, videos and information about the online platform X.
Five women in space at the same time
After “Inspiration4” 2021 and “Polaris Dawn” 2024 – both also carried out by SpaceX – it was the third all -excursion with a crew, which did not include a trained astronaut.
According to the German Aerospace Center (DLR), twelve German men had been in space so far, but not a German woman. Although there were candidates and reserve room drivers, a woman has never actually flown.
During the mission, five women were also in space: Rogge and Mikkelsen at “Fram2” and at the international space station, the US astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers and Wang Haoze were at the Chinese station “Tiangong” (Himmelpalast). The Russian Valentina Tereschkowa was the first woman to fly to space in 1963.
In the luggage: Lilienthal medal, freedom bell, camera
Rogge was officially a scientific specialist on the “Fram2” mission. Her tasks included the coordination of research. The scientist studied electrical engineering and information technology at ETH Zurich. For her doctoral thesis, she switched to the technical and scientific university of Norway.
Rogge had taken a memorial medal in space, among other things, a memorial medal to flight pioneer Otto Lilienthal (1848-1896) and a small replica of the freedom bell in the town hall in Berlin-Schöneberg-the district in which she was born. She also had an analog camera with her.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 250404-930-424221/4
