A team of four astronauts has safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off Southern California’s coast after spending five months on board the International Space Station (ISS). The crew, consisting of NASA’s Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan’s Takuya Onishi, and Russia’s Kirill Peskov, returned to Earth aboard a SpaceX capsule. This marks the first time in 50 years that NASA astronauts have splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, with their last previous return taking place during the Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975.
The crew’s mission was to relieve stranded test pilots on Boeing’s Starliner after it experienced malfunctions. The original crew members, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, were forced to stay on the ISS for over nine months instead of the planned week-long mission. After their NASA colleagues arrived, they left soon after.
The astronauts expressed their relief at returning home, with McClain looking forward to enjoying hot showers and juicy burgers. The successful splashdown is a testament to SpaceX’s capabilities, which have switched capsule returns from Florida to California’s coast to reduce the risk of debris falling on populated areas.
SpaceX has successfully completed its third Pacific splashdown with people on board, marking an important milestone in its space tourism efforts.
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/10/astronauts-return-to-earth-in-spacex-splashdown-after-5-month-iss-mission