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Story summary
Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot of ESA, and Andrey Fedyaev of Roscosmos undocked from the International Space Station on Wednesday at 8:05 AM Eastern Time, concluding an eight-month mission. They splashed down off the coast of Southern California on Thursday, April 27th, at 11:34 AM ET aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule named "Freedom." During their stay, the crew conducted over 237 days of scientific research and station maintenance critical for future Moon and Mars missions. The capsule executed an automated deorbit burn starting at 10:46 AM ET, initiating re-entry procedures that included withstanding temperatures up to 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit before deploying parachutes for a controlled splashdown. Following their departure, the new crew comprising commander Jessica Watkins, pilot Luke Delaney, Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov will manage operations on the station alongside Soyuz MS-29 astronauts Pyotr Dubrov, Anna Kikina, and NASA’s Anil Menon.
Written for “Space Station Crew Return” on 2026-10-08,
grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.
4 people on NASA's Crew-12 mission return to Earth after 8 months in space
Three astronauts and a cosmonaut of NASA's Crew-12 mission have safely returned to Earth after an almost eight-month trip to the International Space Station.
asserted
astronauts → return → Station
The crew, commanded by NASA's Jessica Meir and pilot Jack Hathaway with mission specialists Sophie Adenot of the European Space Agency and Andrey Fedyaev of Russia's Roscosmos, splashed down into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Los Angeles, Calif., on Thursday, aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.
asserted
crew → command → capsule
Their trip home started about 45 minutes before, at an orbital speed of 17,500 mph.
asserted
trip → start → mph
The spacecraft lit its thrusters to nudge it out of orbit, causing the capsule to plunge into the atmosphere, its ablative heat shield battling extreme temperatures (up to 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit) during the fiery reentry.
asserted
shield → light → reentry
Over the course of about half an hour, the capsule slowed to a few hundred miles per hour, and then four orange-and-white parachutes took over, easing the spacecraft to just 16 mph above the cool, blue ocean and a gentle plop into the water.
asserted
parachutes → slow → water
The Crew-12 mission was the 20th time SpaceX had sent humans into orbit, lifting off in February on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
asserted
SpaceX → send → Florida
It docked with the space station the next day.
asserted
It → dock → station
During the eight months in space, NASA said the crew completed dozens of science experiments and research, including studies of stem cells, how crystals grow in space and bone loss in microgravity.
asserted
crystals → say → microgravity
Not all of their work happened inside the space station.
asserted
all → happen → station
Meir conducted four spacewalks totaling just over 27 hours to perform maintenance and upgrade the aging orbital outpost.
asserted
Meir → conduct → outpost
Adenot performed three spacewalks.
asserted
Adenot → perform → spacewalks
Before departing, members of the Crew-12 mission were relieved by the three astronauts and cosmonaut of Crew-13, who arrived at the space station last week to start a six-month rotation.
asserted
who → depart → rotation
During a pre-departure news conference on the station last month, Meir said she couldn't wait to be reunited with her 3 1/2-year-old daughter.
asserted
she → say → daughter
But there was something else she missed after all this time in orbit.
asserted
she → be → orbit
"So looking forward to seeing nature again, feeling the breeze on my face, the wind rustling through the leaves.
asserted
wind → look → leaves
Experiencing all those things that we don't have up here," she said.
asserted
she → experience → that
The two-time space veteran said there were two things she'd miss about space: weightlessness and the wonderful views of Earth.
asserted
she → say → Earth
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