ESA's Rosalind Franklin rover team completed desert training in Spain during October, preparing for deployment to Mars. The agency's Smile mission recorded the complete northern auroral ring encircling Earth. Mars Express detected new features of a giant cloud on Mars. ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot returned to Earth after 237 days in orbit. The Hera spacecraft obtained its first images of the asteroids it will examine for planetary defense purposes. ESA held Open Days for thousands of visitors and partnered with Pokémon to communicate space science to wider audiences.