4 astronauts return from space with frozen science, splashdown Pacific debut
Four astronauts found their way back to Earth on Saturday, Aug.9. The SpaceX capsule dropped into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, California.
The passengers had been on board the International Space Station for the past five months.
Crewmembers of Crew-10 were Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers of NASA, Takuya Onishi of JAXA (the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and Kirill Peskov of Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency. According to NASA, they spent the past two weekends closing out experiments and packing them in portable science freezers inside the Dragon Capsule.
The four were replaced by a crew that arrived at the station Saturday, Aug. 2. NASA’s Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov are scheduled to spend at least six months aboard the orbiting laboratory.
“We got to accomplish a lot of really amazing operational things,” Ayers said during a farewell ceremony on Aug. 5.
“We got to see some amazing views, and we have had some really big belly laughs and a wonderful time together,” she added. “I think that [we’re] leaving with a heart full of gratitude, and [we’re] excited to see where the International Space Station goes after we get home.”
This was the first Pacific Ocean splashdown for a SpaceX Commercial Crew Program mission. Previous entries landed off the Florida coast. Space.com wrote that SpaceX shifted all re-entry missions for all of its Dragon missions.
The space flight company reportedly made the shift to minimize the chance that falling space debris could damage property or injure people.Back in June, Axiom Space launched its fourth private mission to the International Space Station in partnership with SpaceX for the flight.
That crew consisted of astronauts from India, Poland, Hungary and the United States, marking a historic first visit to the ISS for the three international participants. They spent a short time on the ISS before returning to Earth on July 15.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
