Four parachutes, one splash, and a 237-day mission was over.
NASA and SpaceX Crew-12 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off Los Angeles at 10:34 a.m. CT Thursday. Dragon Freedom carried NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. The landing came right on schedule.
“Splashdown of Dragon confirmed!” SpaceX posted moments later. ESA kept it even shorter: “Welcome home Crew-12!”
A Textbook Ride Down
The trip home took a little over a day. Freedom undocked from the International Space Station at 7:05 a.m. CT Wednesday. ESA clocked the full return journey at 27 hours and 29 minutes.
The final hour went by the book. Dragon fired its Draco thrusters for about nine and a half minutes, starting at 9:46 a.m. CT. Shortly afterward, it dropped its trunk to expose the heat shield, Space.com reported. The capsule hit the upper atmosphere around 10:22 a.m. CT, during an expected communications blackout of roughly seven minutes.
NASA laid out the parachute sequence ahead of time. Drogue chutes open about four minutes before splashdown, at roughly 18,000 feet, with Dragon moving about 350 mph. Less than a minute later, the four mains open at about 6,000 feet, with the capsule down to about 120 mph.
CBS News put the splashdown about 50 miles west of Los Angeles, at a gentle 15 mph.
Two fast boats reached the capsule first for safety checks. Then SpaceX’s recovery ship Shannon hoisted Freedom onto its deck with the crew still inside. ESA said Adenot was the third to climb out, “smiling and celebrating after her first, record-breaking spaceflight.” CBS reported all four looked to be in good spirits as crews helped them into reclining chairs.
By the Numbers
NASA says the crew spent 237 days in space, traveled more than 100 million miles and circled Earth more than 3,792 times. They launched from Florida at 4:15 a.m. CT on Feb. 13 and reached the station a day later.
It was a first flight for Hathaway and Adenot, and a second for Meir and Fedyaev. Meir now has 440 total days in space, according to NASA. That puts her in the agency’s top 10 for cumulative time in orbit.
The crew made four spacewalks on this mission. Meir did all four, raising her career total to seven. NASA says that ranks her third among NASA women, behind Peggy Whitson and Suni Williams. Adenot joined three of them. She became the first French woman to walk in space, and the second European woman after Samantha Cristoforetti, ESA said.
Adenot also set a new European record. ESA says her εpsilon mission lasted 237 days, 5 hours and 18 minutes. That beats Luca Parmitano’s previous mark by more than 35 days.
The flight padded SpaceX’s record book, too. SpaceX’s website now lists 57 Dragon launches, 52 visits to the space station and 36 reflights. Freedom itself was on its fifth mission, after Crew-4, Ax-2, Ax-3 and Crew-9.
What They Leave Behind
Crew-12’s story began with a scramble. As the AP put it, the four were “hurrying there eight months ago to replace an ailing colleague and his crew.” That was Crew-11, which came home early in January for a medical issue. Then Crew-12 stayed longer than planned when Crew-13’s launch slipped.
Through all of it, the science kept going. NASA says the crew logged hundreds of hours of research. Projects included testing stem cell production for cell-based therapies and making IV fluid on demand. Another study looked at how pneumonia bacteria can cause long-term heart damage. ESA added that Adenot tested a new European exercise device and in-orbit metal 3D printing.
NASA leaders framed the landing as practice for harder trips.
“Building the capability, experience, and confidence to do this repeatedly is exactly what will allow us to go farther,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement. He credited “thousands across NASA, SpaceX, and our international partners.”
Dana Weigel, who manages NASA’s Low Earth Orbit Program, struck a similar note. “We’re grateful for the dedication across the human spaceflight team that makes this possible,” she said, “and we’re thrilled to welcome Jessica, Jack, Sophie, and Andrey home.”
Why This One Matters
A smooth splashdown can look routine. That’s the point.
This crew launched early to cover a medical evacuation. Then it stayed weeks longer while engineers fixed Crew-13’s Dragon. The station kept running, and Crew-12 came home on the day and minute NASA planned. That kind of flexibility is what NASA is buying when it pays for regular crew rotations.
There’s a longer-term question hanging over it, though. Crew Dragon is now the only U.S. vehicle flying astronauts to the station. Ars Technica has reported that SpaceX plans to retire it after supporting the station through 2030. Every flawless return adds to Dragon’s track record. It also highlights how much NASA leans on one ship.
Then there’s the human data. Four bodies that spent eight months in weightlessness now become research subjects. Space.com reports the crew starts a standard 45-day reconditioning program. What doctors learn feeds directly into planning for Moon and Mars missions.
What They’re Looking Forward To
Before leaving, the astronauts shared simple wish lists.
“I think the thing that I’m looking forward to most is seeing my 3 1/2-year-old daughter,” Meir said, according to CBS News. She also wanted “the breeze on my face, the wind rustling through the leaves.”
Hathaway was refreshingly honest. “Of course, I’m looking forward to seeing my family,” he said. “But a hot shower is near the top of my list.”
What’s Next
After medical checks on Shannon, the crew will fly to shore by helicopter. A NASA plane then takes them to Ellington Field in Houston, ESA said. Adenot will continue on to ESA’s European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany.
Meir, Hathaway and Fedyaev will talk about the mission at a news conference at Johnson Space Center on Thursday, Oct. 15, at 2:30 p.m. CT. Adenot will be back in Europe and won’t attend.
The station keeps humming in the meantime. Seven people remain aboard, including Crew-13 and the Soyuz MS-29 crew. Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL departs Friday at 11:45 a.m. CT. And SpaceX’s CRS-35 cargo Dragon is set to launch Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 5:33 a.m. CT. It will dock at the same Harmony port Freedom just vacated.
One Dragon goes home. Another is already on deck.
