NASA’s Crew-12 splashes down off Los Angeles after nearly eight months

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 splashed down off Los Angeles, California, on October 8 at 8:34 a.m. PDT, returning four astronauts after nearly eight months and beginning their recovery from the Pacific. NASA confirmed the landing at 15:34 UTC and said teams were securing the Dragon spacecraft before bringing it aboard a recovery ship.

Inside were NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. NASA described the return as completing 237 days at the International Space Station for the four-person crew.

The landing follows NewsJaws’ earlier report on Crew-12’s preparations to pack Dragon for the journey home. The confirmed change is that the crew has now reached Earth; NASA’s first splashdown update did not yet confirm that the astronauts had left the capsule.

Dragon recovery off California

In its splashdown report, NASA said personnel aboard two fast boats were securing Dragon and checking that the spacecraft was safe to recover. The recovery ship would then move into position to hoist the capsule onto its main deck with the astronauts still inside.

The Associated Press reported that the astronauts left the station on October 7. It said capsule repairs had delayed their replacements by three weeks, postponing Crew-12’s homecoming; the available AP account did not explain the repairs in detail.

AP quoted Meir’s radio message after splashdown: “We are so excited to be back on Planet Earth after an incredible mission on the International Space Station.”

Meir’s spaceflight total and Adenot’s milestones

NASA credited Meir with 440 cumulative days in space, placing her among the agency’s top 10 astronauts for total time in orbit. That career total is separate from the 237 station days NASA reported for this mission. The agency did not specify her exact ranking.

Hathaway and Adenot were returning from their first space missions, while Fedyaev had completed his second, according to NASA. Reuters identified Meir as making her second trip to the station when Crew-12 launched in February.

NASA said Crew-12 conducted four spacewalks during the mission. ESA separately credited Adenot with three spacewalks within 14 days, totaling 19 hours and 42 minutes outside the station. The figures describe the crew’s overall activity and Adenot’s individual contribution, respectively.

According to ESA, Adenot became the first French woman to conduct a spacewalk and the second European woman, following Samantha Cristoforetti in 2022. ESA’s October 6 account also described her epsilon mission as setting a European single-spaceflight duration record, surpassing Luca Parmitano’s 200-day Beyond mission.

Research during a mission launched after an early evacuation

Crew-12 launched aboard Dragon Freedom on a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on February 13, Reuters reported. It was NASA’s 12th long-duration station team launched by SpaceX since the company began carrying American astronauts to orbit in May 2020.

That departure followed Crew-11’s early return in mid-January because of a serious health condition affecting one crew member, according to Reuters. Three occupants remained aboard the station awaiting Crew-12, giving the February launch an immediate staffing significance.

Reuters’ launch report described planned research into pneumonia-causing bacteria and interactions between plants and nitrogen-fixing microbes. The intended applications concerned treatment research and food production in space; those plans do not establish completed findings or successful applications.

ESA said Adenot carried out experiments spanning health research, materials science, biology and physics. She also helped test the E4D exercise device and metal 3D printing in orbit. ESA’s account described research activity without quantifying resulting benefits on Earth.

Adenot’s Cologne plans and NASA’s return briefing

ESA’s pre-return account said Adenot would fly to Cologne, Germany, after landing and begin post-flight activities at the European Astronaut Centre and the nearby :envihab facility, operated by the German Aerospace Center. That account establishes the plan, rather than confirming her arrival.

NASA scheduled a post-splashdown media teleconference for 1:15 p.m. EDT, or 17:15 UTC, on October 8 to discuss the return and its next station cargo launch. The briefing was still ahead at the time of this report, with NASA, SpaceX and ESA representatives announced as participants.