Around 100 people, including children waving Polish flags and holding posters celebrating the IGNIS mission, welcomed the astronaut at the arrivals hall.
The gathering was organized by astronomy popularizer Karol Wójcicki, who had been rallying public support online and live-streamed the event.
Polish astronaut greeted by Defence Minister after historic space mission
Shortly after Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski landed at Warsaw’s Chopin Airport, Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz personally thanked him, as shared via social media.
The minister called Uznański-Wiśniewski a “national hero” who inspires both Poland and the world.
Uznański-Wiśniewski is a project astronaut with the European Space Agency (ESA), the second Pole in space after Mirosław Hermaszewski, and the first Polish citizen to step aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Polish astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski (centre), his wife, Polish MP Aleksandra Uznańska-Wiśniewska (left), and Josef Aschbacher, Director of the European Space Agency (right). Photo: PAP/Leszek Szymański
The Ax-4 mission began on June 25 alongside American Peggy Whitson, Hungarian Tibor Kapu, and Indian pilot Shubhanshu Shukla. Their Dragon capsule docked with the ISS on June 26, and the crew returned safely to Earth on July 15.
Since July 16, the spacefarer has been in Cologne, in western Germany, at ESA’s European Astronaut Center. There, at the German Aerospace Center’s “Envihab” facility, rehabilitation took place under close monitoring by ESA’s space medicine team to ensure health and fitness.
Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski landed in Warsaw on Thursday after completing his space mission 100%. He is the first Pole on the ISS. Photo: Ministry of Development and Technology/Ministry of Science and Higher Education
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Source: IAR/PAP/MON/Facebook.com/ZGlowaWGwiazdach/X/@MRiTGOVPL