On Saturday, August 9th, four astronauts from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) safely returned to Earth aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon, concluding a five-month mission at the International Space Station (ISS). This marks the first time NASA astronauts have landed in the Pacific Ocean in 50 years.
At 11:33 AM local time, the Crew Dragon splashed down off the coast of San Diego, California, and was then recovered by a SpaceX retrieval ship. The four members of Crew-10 will travel to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, to reunite with their families.
The Crew-10 members returning to Earth include NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Russian Roscosmos astronaut Kirill Peskov. They launched on March 14th from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, docked with the ISS approximately 29 hours later, and began their five-month mission.
These crew members replaced NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who were involved in Boeing’s Starliner test mission. The Starliner experienced technical issues during a crewed demonstration flight, leading to the astronauts being unable to return as planned. NASA decided to return the empty spacecraft and arranged for SpaceX to handle the crew’s return.
After McClain and the other Crew-10 members arrived at the space station, Wilmore and Williams promptly returned to Earth on a SpaceX spacecraft, with Wilmore later announcing his retirement from NASA.
During the mission, the Crew-10 team conducted various scientific experiments such as plant and microalgae growth in space, the effects of space radiation on plant DNA, and the impact of microgravity on human eye structure and cell changes to support future Moon and Mars missions. McClain and Ayers also completed a spacewalk on May 1st, reinstalling communication antennas and installing brackets for future solar array upgrades. This was McClain’s third spacewalk and Ayers’ first.
Before leaving the space station, McClain expressed her hope that this mission would serve as a reminder of what can be achieved when people collaborate in exploration. She also told the Associated Press that she didn’t want to do anything for the first few days after returning to Houston. Ayers and the other members joked that they were most looking forward to taking a hot shower and biting into a juicy hamburger once they were back home.
This is the third time SpaceX has landed a crewed spacecraft in the Pacific Ocean, and it is the first time NASA astronauts have returned to Earth in the Pacific since the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project between the United States and the Soviet Union. Starting this year, SpaceX has shifted the landing site for some missions from the Florida coast to off the coast of California to reduce the risk of debris falling in densely populated areas.
NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy described Crew-10’s successful return as “another successful flight,” emphasizing that the Commercial Crew Program is advancing low-earth orbit space station operations, supporting the development of commercial space stations, and laying the groundwork for future deep space exploration.