Four astronauts are headed home to Earth after nearly eight months in orbit, and Johnson Space Center in Nassau Bay will anchor the homecoming.
NASA and SpaceX plan to undock the Crew-12 Dragon spacecraft, named Freedom, from the International Space Station at 8:05 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, Oct. 7, according to NASA. Splashdown off the coast of California is targeted for approximately 11:34 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 8. JSC will host a post-splashdown briefing at 1:15 p.m. EDT Thursday.
The crew includes NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Sophie Adenot and Russia's Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. Meir served as spacecraft commander on her second spaceflight. This was Hathaway's first mission. He was selected in NASA's 2021 astronaut candidate class.
Both the undocking and splashdown depend on weather in the Pacific recovery zone, spacecraft readiness and other factors, NASA said.
What the crew accomplished
Crew-12 launched Feb. 13 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and docked with the station the following day. The crew contributed to hundreds of experiments, NASA said, including research on pneumonia-causing bacteria, on-demand intravenous fluid generation for future missions and how physical characteristics affect blood flow in spaceflight.
Meir completed four spacewalks during the mission, bringing her career total to seven. Dana Weigel, who manages NASA's low Earth orbit missions, said Friday, Oct. 2, that initial surveys of the spacecraft and equipment headed back to Earth went well, Houston Public Media reported.
During a Sept. 16 news conference from the station, Meir said she was eager to get home. "What I'm looking forward to most is seeing my three-and-a-half-year-old daughter," she said.
Hathaway described a lighter side of station life during the same briefing, saying a hot shower was near the top of his list.
How to watch
NASA will stream live coverage on NASA+ and YouTube. Hatch closure coverage begins at 6 a.m. EDT Wednesday, with undocking coverage starting at 7:45 a.m. Return coverage picks up at 10:20 a.m. Thursday, ahead of the deorbit burn at 10:46 a.m. and splashdown at 11:34 a.m.
JSC briefing
Panelists for the 1:15 p.m. EDT Thursday briefing at Johnson Space Center include Bill Spetch, deputy manager of commercial, NASA's Low Earth Orbit Program; Dr. Liz Warren, the program's deputy chief scientist; Lee Echerd, senior mission manager at SpaceX; and Andreas Mogensen of ESA's Human Exploration Group.
Upcoming
- Wednesday, Oct. 7: Crew-12 hatch closure coverage, 6 a.m. EDT; undocking coverage, 7:45 a.m. EDT (NASA+ and YouTube)
- Thursday, Oct. 8: Return and splashdown coverage, 10:20 a.m. EDT; JSC post-mission briefing, 1:15 p.m. EDT
