Four Astronauts Return to Earth After Nearly Five Months on ISS

CALIFORNIA: Four astronauts have safely returned to Earth after spending almost five months aboard the International Space Station (ISS). They landed on Saturday in a SpaceX capsule, according to a report by Geo News.

The crew consisted of US astronauts Anne McClain and Nicole Ayers, Japan’s Takuya Onishi, and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. Their spacecraft touched down off the coast of California at 8:44 a.m. local time.

Earlier, the SpaceX Dragon capsule detached from the ISS. During reentry into Earth’s atmosphere, the capsule withstood intense heat and deployed large parachutes to slow its descent, making a gentle splashdown in the ocean. The return journey took around 18 hours.

Known as Crew-10, the team carried out numerous scientific experiments during their mission, including studies on plant growth and the effects of gravity on cells. NASA said the astronauts brought back “critical and time-sensitive research” conducted in the ISS’s microgravity environment during their 146-day mission, which included more than 200 scientific investigations.

Their return marks the completion of the 10th crew rotation mission to the ISS under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. According to NASA, the capsule’s heat shield endured temperatures of up to 1,925°C during reentry. As it approached Earth, its speed decreased from 28,100 km/h to about 25 km/h after parachute deployment.

Following splashdown, a SpaceX recovery ship retrieved the capsule and lifted it aboard, allowing the astronauts to breathe fresh Earth air for the first time in months.