Celebrating Shaun's Return from Space with ESA!

It was a special day at Aardman HQ today as we were joined by the European Space Agency (ESA) to celebrate the return of Shaun from his successful Artemis I mission to the Moon!

Shaun arrived back in Bristol following his historic trip, representing the European Space Agency on the first flight of NASA’s Orion spacecraft with an ESA European Service Module.

Shaun safely splashed down to earth on December 11th 2022 and after a much needed rest has now returned home to the Aardman studio before continuing his astronaut duties on a post-flight tour.

ESA’s Director of Human and Robotic Exploration, David Parker, and other ESA representatives - including astronaut Rosemary Coogan - joined the team at Aardman to formally congratulate Shaun. The moment was marked with the unveiling of Shaun’s astronaut portrait, complete with a commemorative plaque, which will be on permanent display at the studio. Aardman Co-founder Peter Lord was in attendance, as well as the studio's Managing Director, Sean Clarke. 

Next up, Shaun will be visiting various space centres across Europe as part of the tour which will see him continue his learnings about the wider programmes the European Space Agency has to offer the future of space exploration. Watch this space for more updates on Shaun's post-flight tour, plus you can see more photos from the event here. 

Photo credit: Dan Pask, Aardman