Four astronauts safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Saturday, marking the end of a five-month mission to space. Commander Anne McClain and pilot Nichole Ayers, accompanied by Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi and cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, returned to Earth aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft.
The crew had been orbiting the International Space Station for 148 days before splashing down west of San Diego at 11:33 a.m. EDT. The successful landing was a significant milestone for NASA’s commercial crew program, which aims to provide safe and reliable access to low-Earth orbit.
SpaceX support crews quickly converged on the capsule after deployment, and the astronauts were helped out of the spacecraft for initial medical checks. A helicopter was waiting to fly them back to shore, where a NASA plane would transport them to the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The crew had undocked from the space station two days earlier than planned due to high winds off the southern California coast. During their time in space, they conducted experiments and trained with the new crew that took over the space station.
This mission marks the first time a NASA-sponsored crew has landed in the Pacific Ocean, changing the program’s approach to ensure any debris from the Crew Dragon spacecraft splashes harmlessly into the ocean.
Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/space-station-fliers-return-to-earth-splashdown