NASA's SpaceX Crew-12 Splashes Down Off California After Nearly 8 Months in Space, Ending Historic Mission

LOS ANGELES — Four astronauts from the United States, France and Russia returned to Earth on Thursday, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast after nearly eight months aboard the International Space Station.

NASA's SpaceX Crew-12 mission ended at 11:34 a.m. EDT, when the SpaceX Dragon capsule Freedom parachuted into the ocean off California, wrapping up a long-duration mission of research and station maintenance.

The crew included NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, the mission commander, and Jack Hathaway, the pilot, along with European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot of France and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, both mission specialists.

A 27-hour trip home

The crew's journey began Wednesday morning, when Dragon undocked at 8:05 a.m. EDT from the space-facing port of the station's Harmony module. The four then spent about 27.5 hours aboard the capsule before splashdown.

After undocking, Freedom fired a series of departure burns to move away from the station and then lowered its orbit. Following its deorbit burn, the spacecraft jettisoned its trunk and reentered the atmosphere before splashing down, where SpaceX's recovery vessel Shannon retrieved the capsule and its crew.

Speed boats reached the capsule as it floated in the Pacific. The crew was scheduled to undergo medical checks and, if cleared, take a helicopter back to land before being flown to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The return came days later than first planned. NASA had originally scheduled undocking for Monday but postponed the return to no earlier than Wednesday after a review of weather and splashdown conditions off California.

Before leaving, the astronauts said they would miss the extraordinary views of Earth from orbit.

A mission launched early after a medical emergency

Crew-12 lifted off Feb. 13 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, and docked with the station the following day.

The launch had been moved up after the Crew-11 mission returned to Earth early, on Jan. 15, because of a medical issue affecting one crew member. NASA and SpaceX advanced Crew-12's launch to shorten the time the station operated with a reduced crew. Before Crew-12 arrived, just one American and two Russians remained aboard, keeping the orbiting lab running.

"We are so excited to be here and get to work," Meir said after the crew arrived at the station in February.

Crew-12's stay was planned to last eight to nine months, longer than the roughly six months typical of NASA's commercial crew missions.

Spacewalks and a first for France

During their time aboard the station, Meir and Adenot took part in four spacewalks to conduct vital maintenance outside the orbiting laboratory.

The first came March 18, when Meir and NASA astronaut Christopher Williams prepared a power channel for the installation of a new roll-out solar array designed to provide the station with additional power.

In a later spacewalk, Meir and Adenot replaced a retroreflector on the Harmony module's forward docking port to improve navigation data for visiting spacecraft. During that outing, which lasted 6 hours and 49 minutes, Adenot became the first French woman to conduct a spacewalk and the second European woman to do so.

Adenot, a military helicopter pilot, is only the second French woman to fly in space. Meir, a biologist, made history in 2019 as part of the first all-female spacewalk.

The flight was the second space mission for Meir and Fedyaev and the first for Hathaway and Adenot.

Research aimed at the moon, Mars and medicine on Earth

The crew conducted hundreds of science experiments while serving as part of the station's Expeditions 74 and 75.

NASA said the astronauts contributed to research on cancer-targeting treatments, bone loss and regeneration, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Crystal growth experiments used microgravity to reveal details about the structure of cancer treatments, with the aim of advancing therapies on Earth.

The crew also supported work in the station's Cold Atom Lab, where scientists study ultracold atoms. Microgravity allows researchers to create Bose-Einstein condensates far colder than those produced in laboratories on Earth, making the quantum behavior of atoms easier to observe.

NASA has said the mission's investigations were designed to help prepare for future exploration of the moon and Mars while also benefiting people on Earth.

When Crew-12 launched, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the mission once again showed the professionalism and teamwork that human spaceflight demands.

A veteran spacecraft

Crew-12 marked the fifth flight for the Dragon capsule Freedom, which previously flew the Crew-4, Crew-9, Axiom-2 and Axiom-3 missions. Freedom was the fourth Dragon spacecraft built and operated by SpaceX. With this mission, the capsule has logged more than 609 days in space.

Crew-13 takes over

Crew-12's departure was made possible by the arrival of its replacement crew. NASA's SpaceX Crew-13 mission launched Oct. 1 after weeks of delays, including a scrubbed September attempt caused by a propellant leak. The new crew docked with the station about eight hours after launch, the fastest rendezvous yet for a Crew Dragon spacecraft.

Crew-13 is now beginning a six-month mission aboard the station as part of Expedition 75.

NASA and SpaceX are also preparing for SpaceX's next cargo resupply mission to the station, CRS-35, targeted for Oct. 13. The next crew rotation flight, Crew-14, is expected to launch no earlier than March 2027.

What's next for the crew

After returning to Houston, the four astronauts will begin a period of medical evaluations and physical rehabilitation to help their bodies readjust to Earth's gravity following months of weightlessness. Long-duration spaceflight can weaken muscles and bones and affect balance, making recovery an important part of every returning mission.

The mission marks another milestone for NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which has relied on SpaceX to ferry astronauts to and from the station since 2020, helping maintain a continuous human presence in low Earth orbit.