NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission ended safely on October 8 when the Dragon Freedom spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off Los Angeles. The capsule carried NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. NASA recorded splashdown at 8:34 a.m. Pacific time, completing a 237-day mission aboard the International Space Station.
Recovery teams reached the capsule within minutes, performed safety checks and lifted Dragon aboard the recovery ship Shannon. The four crew members then exited the spacecraft and underwent the standard medical examinations used after long-duration missions. NASA said the astronauts would travel to Johnson Space Center in Houston after reaching shore, while ESA said Adenot would later continue to the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne.
More than 3,700 orbits
Crew-12 launched from Cape Canaveral on February 13 and docked with the station the next day. According to NASA, the crew traveled more than 100 million miles and completed over 3,792 orbits during 237 days in space. It was the second space mission for Meir and Fedyaev and the first for Hathaway and Adenot.
The mission began with an unusual assignment. The four astronauts flew to the station to replace a crew that returned early following a medical issue involving NASA astronaut Mike Fincke. The Associated Press reported that the earlier return was NASA’s first medical evacuation in 65 years of human spaceflight. Crew-12’s own homecoming was later delayed while its replacement capsule underwent repairs, and the incoming Crew-13 astronauts reached the station before Crew-12 departed.
Research and station maintenance
NASA said the crew logged hundreds of hours of scientific work. Experiments included testing stem-cell production for possible cell-based therapies, demonstrating on-demand generation of intravenous fluid for future missions and studying whether bacteria associated with pneumonia can contribute to long-term heart damage. Other work examined nutrition and blood flow during spaceflight, subjects relevant to astronaut health on longer journeys.
Spacewalks formed another major part of the mission. Meir completed four, bringing her career total to seven and placing her third among NASA women for total spacewalks, according to the agency. Adenot completed three spacewalks in 14 days, spending 19 hours and 42 minutes outside the station. ESA said she became the first French woman to conduct a spacewalk.
A European endurance record
Adenot spent 237 days, five hours and 18 minutes in space, setting a new European record for the longest single mission, ESA said. The total exceeded the previous ESA record held by Luca Parmitano by more than 35 days. Her Epsilon mission included European research in health, materials science, biology, fluid physics, radiation physics and fundamental science, as well as tests of an exercise device and in-orbit metal 3D printing.
Returning from a long mission is itself a carefully managed phase. Crews are assisted out of the capsule because muscles, balance and circulation must readjust after months in microgravity. The post-flight checks mentioned by NASA and ESA are routine and do not indicate that Crew-12 suffered a new emergency during landing.
The safe splashdown closes Crew-12’s flight but not the station’s current expedition. Seven astronauts remain aboard the ISS, representing the United States, Russia and Canada. NASA is also preparing for a cargo mission to deliver equipment and supplies. For Crew-12, the immediate priority is post-flight medical monitoring and readjustment to Earth’s gravity after nearly eight months in microgravity.
