Crew-12 home after 237 days; NASA sets Oct. 15 crew briefing
Four Crew-12 astronauts splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off Los Angeles on Thursday. That ended a 237-day mission that traveled more than 100 million miles. NASA said the international crew will discuss their scientific research at a news conference on Oct. 15 at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Crew-12 is back on solid ground, and the next chance to hear from the astronauts is set.
NASA's Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, the European Space Agency's Sophie Adenot and Russia's Andrey Fedyaev splashed down in SpaceX's Crew Dragon Freedom at 11:34 a.m. EDT Thursday off the coast of Los Angeles. The capsule slowed from about 17,500 mph to about 16 mph under its parachutes, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Within an hour it was aboard the recovery ship Shannon.
"We are so excited to be back on planet Earth," Meir said after landing.
The crew spent 237 days in space and traveled more than 100 million miles, NASA said. They were helped onto stretchers as their bodies adjusted to gravity, then flown to shore and on to Johnson Space Center in Houston, SpacePolicyOnline reported.
The mission set records. Meir made four spacewalks, bringing her career total to seven and placing her third among women behind Peggy Whitson and Suni Williams. Adenot became the first French woman to walk in space, with three spacewalks. Fedyaev became the first person to fly on a Crew Dragon twice, SpacePolicyOnline reported.
The science ranged from growing stem cells for therapies to making IV fluid on demand for future missions. The crew also studied how the bacteria that cause pneumonia can lead to long-term heart damage, NASA said.
The crew launched from Florida on Feb. 13. Their replacements on Crew-13 arrived Oct. 1, and the station is back to its usual seven people.
The station stays busy. A Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo ship is set to leave Friday, with NASA coverage starting at 12:30 p.m. ET. SpaceX plans to launch its next Cargo Dragon on Tuesday, carrying the last two new solar arrays for the station.
Meir, Hathaway and Fedyaev will take questions at a NASA news conference at 3:30 p.m. EDT on Oct. 15 at Johnson Space Center. Adenot will return to Europe and will not attend.
What we know: All four astronauts are home safely, and their briefing is Oct. 15.
What we don't: What the crew will say about their health and research results.
Where outlets agree The Orlando Sentinel and SpacePolicyOnline both report Crew-12 splashed down at 11:34 a.m. Eastern off California after 237 days in space.
Where they differ SpacePolicyOnline says the astronauts spent seven months in weightlessness, while the Orlando Sentinel says the crew spent nearly eight months in space.