Plate Nº 77 · recorded October 9, 2026
Space & AstronomyReported finding
Four astronauts splash down in Pacific after eight-month ISS mission
Four astronauts splashed down off Los Angeles on Thursday after roughly eight months aboard the International Space Station. French astronaut Sophie Adenot set a European Space Agency endurance record at 237 days in orbit.
By Priya Raman3 min read559 words
In brief
- Four astronauts splashed down in the Pacific off Los Angeles on Thursday after about eight months in orbit.
- Sophie Adenot set a European Space Agency endurance record with 237 days in space.
- The crew originally launched in February to replace four station occupants, the first NASA medical evacuation in 65 years.
- Seven astronauts remain aboard the ISS, which has hosted 298 visitors from 26 countries since 2000.
- SpaceX plans a cargo mission next week carrying more than 6,000 pounds (2,700 kg) of supplies.
A SpaceX capsule carrying four astronauts splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Los Angeles on Thursday, ending an approximately eight-month mission to the International Space Station that began as a medical rescue and stretched into one of the longest European crew flights on record.
NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, French astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev departed the orbiting laboratory on Wednesday. They splashed down the next day in a SpaceX Crew Dragon. Recovery teams had all four out of the capsule within an hour, waving and pumping their fists from the deck of SpaceX's recovery ship before taking a helicopter to shore and flying on to Houston.
Why did this crew fly up there in the first place?
Meir, Hathaway, Adenot and Fedyaev launched in February as a replacement crew. NASA sent them to bring home four station occupants, including NASA's Mike Fincke, who fell ill in orbit. The early departure marked NASA's first medical evacuation in 65 years of human spaceflight.
Their replacements did not arrive on schedule. Capsule repairs delayed the next crew's launch by about three weeks, stretching this foursome's stay from the planned six months to roughly eight.
"We are so excited to be back on Planet Earth after an incredible mission on the International Space Station," Meir radioed moments after splashdown. From orbit, she said the crew carried "a lot of mixed, swirling emotions" and would miss the "extraordinary views of our home planet."
What did the crew accomplish in orbit?
The mission combined station upkeep, scientific work, and several notable sightings:
- Sophie Adenot logged 237 days in space, an ESA endurance record.
- Jessica Meir completed four spacewalks. Adenot ventured outside three times for station maintenance and upgrades.
- The crew watched the Artemis II astronauts fly around the Moon roughly two months after arriving.
- They marked the United States' 250th birthday from orbit. Meir played her piccolo with the Boston Pops for a Fourth of July concert.
The crew made time for lighter moments too. They held cooking demonstrations complete with aprons and chef's toques, threw a dance party last month, and Meir filmed a how-to video aimed at curly-haired spacewomen. Hathaway, a naval aviator, grew a thick mustache before launch to honor his Navy ties. He found it no harder to maintain in weightlessness than on Earth, and some ground controllers grew mustaches in solidarity.
"It's kind of become a little bit of my brand up here, so I don't know if it'll go away right away or I'll end up keeping it for a while," Hathaway said in August.
What's next for the space station?
Seven astronauts from the United States, Russia and Canada remain aboard the outpost. According to NASA, the station has hosted 298 visitors from 26 countries since it opened in 2000.
SpaceX is preparing a cargo mission for next week. The flight will carry more than 6,000 pounds (2,700 kilograms) of supplies, including the final instalment of a multi-mission solar panel upgrade, a replacement toilet pump, a spacewalking suit, and fresh fruit.
The Pacific splashdown was a shift from SpaceX's usual Florida-based returns. The company has expanded its recovery zones to the West Coast as its crewed flight cadence grows.
via Phys.org Space & Astronomy (Source)
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Senior reporter covering industry trends and analytics at SciBeat.
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