AN international crew of four astronauts is back home on Earth Saturday after nearly five months aboard the International Space Station, returning safely in a SpaceX capsule.
The spacecraft carrying US astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan’s Takuya Onishi and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov splashed down off California’s coast at 8:44 am local time (1534 GMT).
Their return marks the end of the 10th crew rotation mission to the space station under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which was created to succeed the Space Shuttle era by partnering with private industry.
The SpaceX Dragon capsule, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, successfully detached from the International Space Station (ISS) at 2215 GMT on Friday.
During reentry, the capsule reaches temperatures of 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,925 Celsius) before deploying parachutes to slow its descent from 17,500 miles per hour to just 16 miles per hour.
After splashing down, the astronauts were recovered and could finally breathe Earth’s air after months in space. They conducted various scientific experiments, including studies on plant growth and microgravity’s effects on human eyes.
NASA’s acting Administrator Sean Duffy praised the mission’s significance for future exploration. Astronaut Christina McClain described her farewell as “bittersweet,” highlighting the global collaboration behind such missions. Meanwhile, NASA faces a 20 per cent workforce reduction due to federal budget cuts, while President Trump prioritizes crewed missions to the Moon and Mars. Recently, astronauts Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, Kimiya Yui, and Oleg Platonov began a sixmonth ISS mission.
AFP
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