Four astronauts from three different countries have safely returned to Earth after spending nearly five months aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Their journey home ended on Saturday with a smooth splashdown off the coast of California in SpaceX’s Dragon capsule.
The returning crew — US astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan’s Takuya Onishi, and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov — touched down at 8:44am local time (8:34pm PKT). The landing marked the successful completion of NASA’s 10th crew rotation mission under its Commercial Crew Program, which partners with private companies like SpaceX to ferry astronauts after the retirement of the Space Shuttle.
The Dragon capsule detached from the ISS on Friday at 2215 GMT (3:15am PKT) and began its 17-hour return trip. The fiery re-entry was slowed by parachute deployment before the capsule was recovered by a SpaceX ship.
During their stay, Crew-10 conducted a wide range of experiments, including studies on plant growth in space and the effects of gravity on human cells. Their arrival in March also enabled two US astronauts — Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams — to come home after being stranded for nine months due to technical problems with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft.
NASA confirmed this week that Wilmore will retire after 25 years of service. Meanwhile, a new team — US astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan’s Kimiya Yui, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov — has already arrived at the ISS for a six-month mission.
