TAMPA, Fla. — Four astronauts have returned to Earth, splashing down off Florida’s Gulf Coast shortly after midnight Friday following the six-month Crew-3 science mission on the International Space Station.
The @SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft Endurance is seen as it returns from space off the coast of Florida with #Crew3 astronauts @astro_matthias, @AstroMarshburn, @Astro_Raja, and Kayla Barron after spending 175 days aboard @Space_Station! Check back https://t.co/dbzVe5RnjF pic.twitter.com/5R3pjqMctr
— NASA HQ PHOTO (@nasahqphoto) May 6, 2022
According to The Associated Press, the SpaceX Dragon Endurance Capsule – carrying NASA’s Tom Marshburn, Kayla Barron and Raja Chari, along with Matthias Maurer of the European Space Agency – undocked from the space station about 1:20 a.m. EDT Thursday and landed in the waters off Tampa less than a day later, at 12:43 a.m. Friday.
“And … splashdown! Dragon has safely made it home with precious cargo aboard: four #Crew3 astronauts!” NASA tweeted alongside a video of the moment. “Now they wait for the recovery vehicle, which is named after Shannon Walker, mission specialist for the first crewed @SpaceX mission to the @Space_Station.”
And… splashdown! Dragon has safely made it home with precious cargo aboard: four #Crew3 astronauts!
— NASA (@NASA) May 6, 2022
Now they wait for the recovery vehicle, which is named after Shannon Walker, mission specialist for the first crewed @SpaceX mission to the @Space_Station: pic.twitter.com/VDDXdsxkbH
About an hour later, NASA shared a video of the astronauts exiting the capsule. After receiving medical checks, they will travel to Houston, according to the AP.
After a successful splashdown at 12:43am ET (04:43 UTC), the hatch is open and the #Crew3 astronauts are home. pic.twitter.com/0WpMtIdnxX
— NASA (@NASA) May 6, 2022
During their mission, Crew-3 astronauts joined others on board the orbiting lab to conduct several “science and research investigations,” according to the NASA website. Those included a food physiology experiment and a project measuring human spaceflight risks associated with long-duration missions, the agency said.
>> RELATED STORY: SpaceX Crew-4 docks at International Space Station
Last week, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon Freedom capsule sent the astronauts’ replacements – NASA’s Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins, along with the ESA’s Samantha Cristoforetti – to the space station. An all-private crew, which included a former NASA astronaut and three businessmen who paid $55 million each for the flight, also visited the ISS for two weeks in April, the AP previously reported.
– The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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