After spending almost five months on board the ISS, a multinational team of four astronauts safely returned to Earth on Saturday in a SpaceX spacecraft.
At 8:44 a.m. local time (8:34 p.m. PKT), the spacecraft carrying Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi, and US astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers smashed down off the coast of California.
The 10th crew rotation trip to the space station under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which was established to replace the Space Shuttle era by collaborating with private enterprise, comes to a close with their return.
At 2215 GMT (3:15am PKT) on Friday, the SpaceX firm, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, released its Dragon capsule from the International Space Station (ISS).
When the capsule re-entered the atmosphere, its terrifying 17-hour descent back to Earth was slowed, and massive parachutes were subsequently used to further contain it.
The capsule was recovered by a SpaceX spacecraft and lifted aboard after it splashed down. Only then, after months away, were the astronauts able to breathe the air of Earth once more.
During their stay aboard the space station, the astronaut team, known as Crew-10, carried out a number of scientific studies, such as researching the growth of plants and the response of cells to gravity.
After being unexpectedly stranded on board the space station for nine months, two US astronauts were able to return home after their March flight into space.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were only expected to be in space for eight days when they launched in June 2024 as part of the Boeing Starliner’s first crewed flight test.
They were left stranded in space when the spaceship’s propulsion issues led to its being judged unfit for return travel.
This week, NASA revealed that Wilmore, who has worked for the US space agency for 25 years, has chosen to retire.
Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, and American astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke entered the ISS last week for a six-month mission.
SOURCE: DAWN NEWS
