Image: SpaceX
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft has safely returned the Crew-10 mission to Earth after nearly five months aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The mission carried NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.
The crew began their journey home when Dragon autonomously undocked from the ISS at 6:15 p.m. ET/3:15 p.m. PT on Friday, August 8. Following a smooth reentry into Earth’s atmosphere, the spacecraft splashed down off the coast of San Diego, California, at 11:33 a.m. ET/8:33 a.m. PT on Saturday, August 9. The four main parachutes deployed just minutes before splashdown to ensure a gentle landing.
Crew-10 launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:03 p.m. ET/4:03 p.m. PT on March 14, docking with the ISS on March 16 at 12:04 a.m. ET/March 15 at 9:04 p.m. PT. Over the course of 145 days in orbit, the astronauts carried out scientific experiments aimed at advancing human exploration beyond low Earth orbit and benefiting life on Earth. You can check out Crew-10’s return journey to Earth in the video below:
The Dragon capsule used for Crew-10 was a veteran spacecraft, having previously flown the Crew-3, Crew-5, and Crew-7 missions for NASA.
This successful return comes just over a week after SpaceX launched the Crew-11 mission to the ISS, which remains docked at the station. Looking ahead, SpaceX is also preparing for the 10th orbital test flight of its next-generation Starship vehicle later this month. Designed for missions to Mars and beyond, Starship recently made headlines after SpaceX signed a deal with Italy for a future interplanetary flight.
