A multinational team of four space travelers safely splashed down off the coast of Southern California on Thursday, wrapping up an eight-month mission aboard the International Space Station, the Associated Press reported.
A SpaceX capsule carrying NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, French astronaut Sophie Adenot and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev touched down in the Pacific Ocean near Los Angeles. The crew unhooked from the orbiting laboratory on Wednesday following an unplanned three-week delay caused by repairs required on their replacement capsule, according to reports from Fortune and the New York Post.
A mission launched on short notice
The four crew members launched toward the space station in February under urgent circumstances. NASA had initiated its first medical evacuation in 65 years of human spaceflight after agency astronaut Mike Fincke fell ill, prompting mission planners to send Fincke and his crew back to Earth ahead of schedule.
With Fincke now retired, the relief crew stepped in quickly to keep the orbital complex running. During their stay, the flyers completed multiple maintenance operations on the 28-year-old station. Meir performed four spacewalks and Adenot conducted three, the New York Post reported.
Moments following the Pacific landing, Meir checked in over mission radio channels. “We are so excited to be back on Planet Earth after an incredible mission on the International Space Station,” she said, according to the AP report. Before undocking, Meir noted that the astronauts felt “a lot of mixed, swirling emotions” about leaving and would miss the “extraordinary views of our home planet.”
Life and milestones aboard the outpost
The crew marked several historic milestones while aloft. Two months into the stay, they watched from orbit as the Artemis II mission navigated around the moon. In July, they commemorated the 250th birthday of the United States, during which Meir played her piccolo in coordination with a Fourth of July broadcast by the Boston Pops.
The astronauts also balanced their intense workload with lighter activities, the reports noted. Last month, they organized a dance gathering inside the station and hosted culinary demonstrations wearing chef hats and aprons. Meir created an instructional video on hair care in microgravity, while Hathaway drew attention for maintaining a thick naval aviator mustache in orbit. Hathaway told reporters in August that the facial hair, grown to honor his military background, had “become a little bit of my brand up here.”
Support personnel extracted all four flyers from the spacecraft within an hour of touchdown. Aboard the SpaceX recovery vessel, crew members smiled and pumped their fists before taking a helicopter flight to the mainland, where they were slated to travel to Houston, according to the AP.
Current status of the orbital laboratory
With the departure of Meir, Hathaway, Adenot and Fedyaev, seven astronauts remain aboard the outpost, representing the United States, Russia and Canada.
NASA records indicate that 298 individuals from 26 nations have visited the facility since continuous human occupation started in 2000. Ground teams in Houston are now monitoring the returning crew members as they readapt to gravity and undergo routine physical evaluations following their lengthy stay in space.
