After 237 days in space, the four-person Crew 12 team successfully returned to Earth, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean west of Los Angeles following a mission defined by scientific research and the realities of life in weightlessness.
The Crew Dragon capsule “Freedom” pierced the atmosphere in a brilliant. meteor-like streak before settling into the Pacific Ocean west of Los Angeles on Thursday. bringing four astronauts home from a 237-day mission. The splashdown at 11:34 a.m. ET marked the final step of a journey that saw the crew travel 101 million miles over 3,792 orbits.
Commander Jessica Meir. pilot Jack Hathaway. European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot. and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev departed the International Space Station on Wednesday. By Thursday morning, the team was waiting for their orbital path to align with the southwest-to-northeast trajectory required for reentry. At 10:46 a.m. ET, the capsule fired its thrusters for nine minutes, breaking its orbital hold. Within 12 minutes. the vessel shifted from a velocity of 17. 000 mph to a final descent speed of 15 mph. aided by four large parachutes. A SpaceX recovery team stationed on the ship Shannon arrived shortly after the 11:34 a.m. splashdown to stabilize the craft.
For the crew, the transition back to Earth involves a delicate period of medical observation. Flight surgeons were waiting on the recovery ship to conduct initial health checks as the astronauts began re-adjusting to gravity. The group will be flown by helicopter to the coast. eventually heading to the Johnson Space Center in Houston for physical therapy and rehabilitation.
The mission, which began with a Feb. 13 launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, was a cycle of intense maintenance and scientific inquiry. Over eight months. the team performed four spacewalks. managed scores of research projects. and oversaw the transition of crew members. including the arrival of a new Soyuz crew in July and their own successors earlier this month.
Beyond the logistics, the experience of living 260 miles above the Earth left a profound impression on the crew. Meir. who spent the final days of the mission anticipating the simple joys of home—seeing her 3 1/2-year-old daughter and feeling the wind—noted the sheer dominance of the ocean from her vantage point in the cupola. “You understand how big it is. how immense it is and how important it is for the entire ecosystem of our planet. ” she said. “We drastically need to do everything that we can to protect our oceans.”.
Hathaway also looked forward to the grounded comforts of terrestrial life, noting that a long, hot shower was near the top of his list.
As the Crew 12 team transitions to recovery, the station remains active. A new group. Crew 13—commanded by Jessica Watkins with pilot Luke Delaney. Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk. and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov—arrived on Oct. 1 to begin their own six-month tenure. They join the Soyuz MS-29 crew. consisting of cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina and NASA astronaut Anil Menon. who launched from Kazakhstan on July 14 and are currently in the midst of an eight-month stay.
Crew 12 SpaceX NASA International Space Station space travel splashdown Jessica Meir Jack Hathaway Sophie Adenot Andrey Fedyaev