A team made up of two American astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut, and a Japanese astronaut landed back on Earth on Saturday, following the successful splashdown of SpaceX’s Dragon capsule off the coast of California, as depicted in a video aired by NASA, reported France Presse via Agerpres.
Americans Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Russian Kirill Peskov, and Japanese Takuya Onishi spent almost five months in space.
Their return marks the conclusion of the tenth crew rotation mission to the International Space Station (ISS) carried out as a component of NASA’s Commercial Crew program, established to transition from the space shuttle era through collaborations with the private sector.
SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, descended in the Pacific Ocean at 08:34 local time (15:34 GMT) after separating from the ISS the previous day. Its swift descent was mitigated by the Earth’s atmosphere and subsequently by large parachutes.
The capsule was slated to be retrieved by a SpaceX vessel and, once brought aboard, was finally opened to permit the astronauts to exit.
During their time on the ISS, Crew-10 undertook a variety of scientific experiments, examining plant growth and cellular responses to gravity.
In March, their launch into space attracted notable attention as it was intended to facilitate the return of two American astronauts who had been stranded in space for nine months.
Initially planned for an eight-day mission in 2024, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams had been marooned on the ISS since June of last year due to issues with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft that transported them.
After 25 years of service with NASA, Wilmore announced his retirement this week, as stated by the space agency.
