After spending nearly five months aboard the International Space Station, a five-person international crew began their journey back to Earth on Friday aboard a SpaceX capsule.
US astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan’s Takuya Onishi, and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov are expected to be in the capsule for over 17 hours before splashing down off the coast of California at 1533 GMT on Saturday.
Their return marks the end of the 10th crew rotation mission to the space station under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which was established to continue human spaceflight by partnering with private companies.
Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX Dragon capsule undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) at 2215 GMT on Friday.
The capsule’s swift descent back to Earth will be slowed as it re-enters the atmosphere and then by large parachutes to ensure a soft landing. Following the splashdown, the capsule will be recovered by a SpaceX ship and hoisted aboard, allowing the astronauts to breathe Earth’s air for the first time in months.
During their time on the space station, the astronauts, known as Crew-10, conducted numerous scientific experiments. These included studies on plant growth and how cells are affected by gravity.
Their launch in March was particularly significant because it enabled two US astronauts, who had been unexpectedly stranded on the space station for nine months, to finally return home.
When Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched in June 2024, they were only scheduled to spend eight days in space on a test flight of the Boeing Starliner. However, the spacecraft experienced propulsion issues and was deemed unsafe for the return trip, leaving them stranded.
NASA announced this week that Wilmore has decided to retire after 25 years of service with the US space agency.
Just last week, another crew—including US astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan’s Kimiya Yui, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov—boarded the ISS for their six-month mission.
