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Four astronauts from the International Space Station returned to Earth on Thursday after an eight-month mission. The crew—comprising NASA’s Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA’s Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos’ Andrey Fedyaev—undocked early Wednesday in their Crew Dragon capsule "Freedom." After a brief farewell ceremony led by outgoing commander Jessica Meir, the astronauts will splash down off the coast of Southern California at 11:34 a.m. ET on Thursday following a re-entry maneuver. Their departure marks the transition to a new crew including NASA's Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney among others, who have been aboard since October.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-07,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
On Wednesday morning, Crew 12 members Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot, and Andrey Fedyaev undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) after an eight-month mission. They departed from the space-facing port on the forward Harmony module at 8:05 a.m. Eastern Time, sailing 260 miles above Cuba and the Bahamas before executing an automated loop over the ISS. The capsule will perform a nine-minute thruster firing starting at 10:46 a.m. ET Thursday, leading to splashdown off the coast of Southern California at 11:34 a.m. ET on Thursday. Meir thanked their team and international partners for an "incredible expedition," highlighting the extensive support from NASA, SpaceX, and other space agencies. Replacing them are astronauts Jessica Watkins, Luke Delaney, Joshua Kutryk, Sergey Teteryatnikov, Anil Menon, along with cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina, who launched on July 14 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Written for “Space Station Crew Return Home” on 2026-10-07,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
The four people departing the International Space Station strapped into their Crew Dragon capsule and undocked early Wednesday, setting up re-entry and splashdown Thursday off the coast of Southern California to
a 237-day stay in orbit.
asserted
people → depart → orbit
, flanked on their left by European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and on the right by cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, the Crew Dragon "Freedom" backed away from the space-facing port on the forward Harmony module at 8:05 a.m. Eastern Time.
asserted
Freedom → flank → a.m.
Sailing 260 miles above Cuba and the Bahamas, the capsule executed an automated loop over the top of the lab complex and slowly dropped away behind, exiting the safety zones around the station.
"We just wanted to give an enormous thank you to all of the team, our friends and colleagues on board the International Space Station, everybody in Houston, everybody at SpaceX, all around the world, with all of our international partners," Meir radioed as the Crew Dragon departed.
asserted
Dragon → sail → partners
"We have had the most incredible of expeditions ... and we will never forget it, and never forget all of your hard work."
asserted
we → have → work
After enjoying a final day in weightlessness, Meir and Hathaway will monitor a nine-minute and 20-second firing of the Crew Dragon's forward Draco thrusters starting at 10:46 a.m. ET on Thursday, setting up a fiery plunge back to Earth and splashdown off the coast of California at 11:34 a.m. ET.
Left behind aboard the space station
that replaced them — commander Jessica Watkins, pilot Luke Delaney, Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk and cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov — who were launched to the station on Oct. 1.Also on board are Soyuz MS-29 commander Pyotr Dubrov, cosmonaut Anna Kikina and NASA astronaut Anil Menon,
from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on July 14. They plan to remain aboard the station for eight months while Crew 13 is planning a six-month tour of duty.
asserted
Crew → enjoy → duty
In a brief ceremony Sunday, Meir turned command of the station over to Dubrov, saying Crew 12's departure would mark a "bittersweet" moment.
asserted
departure → turn → moment
"We will be leaving our friends," she said.
asserted
she → leave → friends
"But we know that we are going home to our friends, to our families, to all of our team members on the ground.
asserted
we → know → ground
So it's a lot of mixed, swirling emotions for all of us when one leaves a home like this up on the space station."
asserted
one → swirl → station
She presented a symbolic "key to the space station" to Dubrov, who said "it's a great honor and a great responsibility to be the commander of such a magnificent place like International Space Station."
asserted
it → present → Station
"It has a special meaning for me today, because 69 years ago on this day (Oct. 4) the first Sputnik was launched.
asserted
Sputnik → have → day
Today is the dawn of the space era for humanity, and International Space Station is the greatest symbol of what we can do if we work together."
asserted
we → work → what
The combined crews then gathered in a group hug, or "huggle," as Meir described it, forming a circle with arms around each other's shoulders.
With splashdown Thursday, Meir, Hathaway, Adenot and Fedyaev will wrap up a 237-day and five-hour mission, flying around the planet 3,792 times and logging nearly 101 million miles from start to finish.
Meir, wrapping up her second flight to the space station, will have logged a total of 442 days in space, completing four spacewalks during the Crew 12 mission and three during an earlier stay.
asserted
Meir → combine → stay
Adenot carried out three back-to-back spacewalks of her own, including one with Meir and two with Menon.
asserted
Adenot → carry → Menon
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