Four astronauts of NASA’s Crew-8 mission have safely returned home on Friday. The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which departed from the International Space Station (ISS) yesterday, made a splashdown at 12:59 pm IST in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida.
The spacecraft was carrying NASA astronauts Mike Barratt, Matthew Dominick, and Jeanette Epps and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin who flew to the station in March.
Welcome home, Crew-8! 🪂
After spending seven months living and working aboard the space station, @NASA_Astronauts Mike Barratt, Matthew Dominick, and Jeanette Epps, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, splashed down off the coast of Florida on at 3:29am ET. pic.twitter.com/HnGqAIt61T
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) October 25, 2024
“Welcome home, Crew-8! After traveling nearly 100 million miles around the Earth and 235 days in space, your journey is a reminder that no achievement in space —or on Earth— happens alone. Your dedication, resilience, and teamwork have brought us closer to new frontiers, and we couldn’t be prouder of what you’ve achieved,” Dana Weigel, Station Program Manager, said in a statement.
The crew has spent 232 days aboard the orbiting lab, according to NASA.
ALSO SEE: SpaceX’s Dragon Spacecraft Departs From Space Station With Four Astronauts; Watch
Home sweet home 🌎#Crew8 has returned to Earth after spending 232 days aboard the @Space_Station! The crew safely splashed down off the coast of Florida at 3:29 a.m. ET on Friday, October 25 and will soon make their way back to Houston to reunite with friends and family. pic.twitter.com/fG3BjEAjTP
— NASA’s Johnson Space Center (@NASA_Johnson) October 25, 2024
The responsibility to carry on the work by Crew-8 is now on Crew-9 and other residents currently in space. The two Crew-9 astronauts – Nick Hague (NASA) and Aleksandr Gorbunov (Roscosmos) entered the station on September 30.
Their objective, other than living and working abord the station, is to bring Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore back to Earth.
Williams and Wilmore will have to stay in space until February i.e. when the Crew-9 mission ends. NASA decided to send the new crew with two instead of four astronauts to make room for Williams and Wilmore who were part of the failed Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission involving Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft.
ALSO SEE: NASA’s Crew-9 Astronauts Arrive At Space Station To Rescue Sunita Williams; Watch
(Image: SpaceX)
