An astronaut crew that carried out an eight-month mission aboard the International Space Station splashed down as planned Thursday off the coast of California.
After a more than 27-hour return journey, the Dragon capsule carrying Crew-12 landed safely in the Pacific Ocean, according to space agency NASA's live broadcast.
"We are so excited to be back on planet Earth after an incredible mission on the International Space Station," said American astronaut Jessica Meir, the mission commander.
The spacecraft was then hoisted onto a specialized ship, and the four occupants -- Meir, American Jack Hathaway, French astronaut Sophie Adenot and Russian cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev -- were helped out one by one.
They will undergo initial medical checks on the ship before being transported by helicopter to land, and then fly to Houston, Texas, home to the NASA center responsible for astronaut operations.
During the mission, Adenot became the first French female astronaut to venture outside the space station for a spacewalk. In all, she undertook three spacewalks on August 18 and 25, and September 1.
Four new crew members for the ISS docked at the orbiting laboratory last week and will stay for approximately six months.
Continuously inhabited for the last quarter-century, the aging ISS is scheduled to be pushed out of orbit before crashing into one of Earth's oceans sometime around 2030.
Despite many international cooperation agreements falling apart after Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, the United States and other ISS partners have continued working with Russia on the space station.
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