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Four astronauts return to Earth after eight months in space

The four astronauts completed experiments and station maintenance during the mission, which began as an expedited replacement flight after a crew member fell ill.

  • On Thursday, Commander Jessica Meir and three crewmates splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off Los Angeles at 11:34 a.m. ET aboard SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom, completing a 237-day mission to the International Space Station.
  • Meir and her crew launched February 13, 2026 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station as an emergency replacement after NASA astronaut Mike Fincke fell ill, marking NASA's first medical evacuation in 65 years of human spaceflight.
  • During eight months aboard, the crew completed 3,792 orbits spanning nearly 101 million miles; Meir conducted four spacewalks totaling over 27 hours while ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot performed three spacewalks in 14 days, spending 19 hours and 42 minutes outside the station.
  • Meir radioed after splashdown, "We are so excited to be back on Planet Earth," noting the crew had "a lot of mixed, swirling emotions," while all four were helicoptered to Houston's Johnson Space Center for rehabilitation.
  • Crew-13 arrived October 1 in record time, docking 7 hours and 55 minutes after liftoff, as Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov took command of the station; Dubrov, cosmonaut Anna Kikina and NASA astronaut Anil Menon remain aboard for eight months while Crew-13 spends six months at the ISS.
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Four astronauts returned to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, eight months after they had rushed into orbit to replace an ill colleague and his crew.

·Vilnius, Lithuania
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Mathrubhumi broke the news in Kozhikode, India on Saturday, October 3, 2026.
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