The four crew members of NASA's SpaceX Crew-12 mission splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Los Angeles on 8 October 2026 at 11:34 Eastern Time.
On board the SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft were NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.
The crew spent 237 days aboard the International Space Station, covering more than 100 million miles. During that time, the astronauts carried out four spacewalks and conducted important scientific experiments.
For Jessica Meir, this was her second long-duration stay in space: in total, she has logged 440 days of flight. Jack Hathaway and Sophie Adenot went to space for the first time, while for Andrey Fedyaev the flight was his second.
"Jessica, Jack, Sophie and Andrey spent 237 days living and working in orbit, advanced important science and returned home thanks to the exceptional expertise and competence of thousands of specialists at NASA, SpaceX and international partners," noted NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.
The splashdown concluded a mission that began with a launch in March 2026. The crew is now preparing for a press conference on 15 October at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
How will this experience influence future long-duration expeditions to the Moon and Mars?
The return of Crew-12 underscores the reliability of international cooperation in space exploration. The successful landing was the result of the coordinated work of teams on Earth and in orbit.
