The four members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission — NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov — undock from the space station, setting off to return to Earth. Splashdown will occur off the coast of California on Saturday, Aug. 9, at approximately 11:33 a.m. ET (1533 UTC).
During their nearly five months on the space station, Crew-10 contributed to the more than 200 scientific demonstrations and experiments taking place in orbit. These included physiological and psychological studies, material flammability tests for future spacecraft designs, and testing a backup lunar navigation solution.
Tune in on Monday, 14 July, from 11:45 BST (12:45 CEST), to watch ESA project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski depart from the International Space Station, bringing the Ignis mission to a close after nearly three weeks in orbit.
During the Ignis mission, Sławosz conducted 13 experiments proposed by Polish companies and institutions and developed in collaboration with ESA, along with three additional ESA-led experiments. These covered a broad range of areas including human research, materials science, biology, biotechnology and technology demonstrations.
Ax-4 marks the second commercial human spaceflight mission for an ESA project astronaut. Sponsored by the Polish government and supported by ESA, the Polish Ministry of Economic Development and Technology (MRiT) and the Polish Space Agency (POLSA), the mission featured an ambitious programme of technological and scientific research.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
Watch Axiom Mission 4 begin the journey home from the International Space Station. Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland, and HUNOR (Hungarian to Orbit) astronaut Tibor Kapu of Hungary return to Earth aboard their SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. Undocking is scheduled at 7:05 a.m. EDT (1105 UTC).
Watch as the four members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission—NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov—undock from the International Space Station and begin their journey home to Earth.
Crew-9’s SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to undock from the International Space Station at 1:05 a.m. EST (0505 UTC). After undocking from the station, Crew-9 is scheduled to splash down off the coast of Florida at 5:57 p.m. EDT (2157 UTC), ending their multi-month mission in low Earth orbit.
After almost 20 days on the International Space Station, ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt is coming home.
The trip back to Earth will take the Axiom Mission 3 crew around 47 hours. Marcus will serve as a mission specialist during the journey, sharing the ride with Walter Villadei from Italy, Alper Gezeravcı from Türkiye and Michael López-Alegría, a dual US-Spanish citizen.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
Watch live as the Dragon Freedom spacecraft undocks with the four crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission aboard: NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, and Jessica Watkins, as well as ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.
Undocking from the International Space Station (ISS) is targeted for Friday, Oct. 14. Splashdown is targeted several hours later at 4:55 p.m. EDT (2055 UTC) Friday off the coast of Florida.
During their stay of nearly six months on the ISS, Crew-4 members contributed to ongoing and new scientific investigations and technology demonstrations, work that is helping to prepare humans for future space exploration missions and generating innovations and benefits for humanity on Earth: https://youtu.be/J61Y5AJ-Kog
Crew Dragon capsule Endurance, carrying ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer and @NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn and Kayla Barron, undocked from the International Space Station at 06:20 BST/07:20 CEST Thursday 5 May. The autonomous undocking marked the start of Crew-3’s return to Earth after almost six months in orbit.
Crew-3’s return will take approximately 23.5 hours. Their spacecraft will splash down off the coast of Florida, USA, where ships will be waiting to bring it aboard and welcome the astronauts home.
This return also marks the end of Matthias’s first space mission, Cosmic Kiss. During his time on Station, Matthias supported over 35 European and many more international experiments in microgravity. He also supported International Space Station operations and maintenance and performed a spacewalk with NASA astronaut Raja Chari on 23 March 2022.
After initial medical checks, Crew-3 crew members will be transported by helicopter to shore where a plane will be waiting to bring Matthias back to ESA’s European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, for his post-flight debriefings and rehabilitation.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
Watch the Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft undock from the International Space Station, with four astronauts aboard: Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur of NASA, Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency, and Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The Crew Dragon fired its thrusters for a 360-degree flyaround of the space station, making it the first spacecraft to do so since the space shuttle.
The Crew Dragon safely splashed down off the coast of Pensacola, Florida at 10:33 p.m. EST Mon., Nov. 8 (03:33 UTC Nov. 9).
NASA Astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley splashed down in the Dragon Endeavour capsule at 2:48 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 2, off the coast of Pensacola, Florida.
The Crew Dragon hatch was opened at 3:59 p.m., and Behnken and Hurley exited the spacecraft onto the Go Navigator for initial medical checks before returning to shore by helicopter. Once returned to shore, both crew members will immediately board a waiting NASA plane to fly back to Ellington field in Houston.
Hurley and Behnken arrived to the International Space Station May 31 and spent 62 days supporting science and research aboard the orbiting laboratory as part of Expedition 63.
Demo-2 is SpaceX’s final test flight and is providing data on the performance of the Falcon 9 rocket, Crew Dragon spacecraft and ground systems, as well as in-orbit, docking, splashdown, and recovery operations. The data will inform NASA’s certification of the SpaceX crew transportation system for regular flights carrying astronauts to and from the space station. SpaceX is readying the hardware for the first rotational mission that will occur following NASA certification, which is expected to take about six weeks.
Highlights from ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet’s return to Earth at the end of his six-month Proxima mission to the International Space Station on 2 June 2017.
After farewells and hatch closure, Thomas and his Expedition 50/51 crewmate and Soyuz commander Oleg Novitsky undocked from the International Space Station at 12:47 CEST (10:47 GMT). Just a few hours later their spacecraft reentered Earth’s atmosphere, landing in the Kazakh Steppe at 16:10 CEST (14:10 GMT). Thomas and Oleg were helped out of the Soyuz by a recovery crew and, after medical checks, they were flown to Karaganda airport where they received the traditional welcoming ceremony. Thomas then flew directly from Karaganda to Cologne, in Germany, home to the European Astronaut Centre, to start post-flight testing.
Thomas and Oleg spent 196 days in space. Thomas took part in more than 60 experiments during his Proxima mission. His experiments are helping to understand the human brain, ocean currents and radiation in space, how atoms behave and tested new spacecraft materials. Other highlights included his two spacewalks to improve and maintain the Space Station.
How does an astronaut return to Earth from the International Space Station? What does it feel like to re-enter the atmosphere? How does the Soyuz capsule function? Watch and find out. This video is based on an actual lesson delivered to the ESA astronaut class of 2009 (also known as the #Shenanigans09) during their ESA Basic Training. It features interviews with astronauts who have flown on the Soyuz and dramatic footage of actual landings.
Produced by the ESA Human Spaceflight and Operations (HSO) Astronaut Training Division, Cologne, Germany, in collaboration with the HSO Strategic Planning and Outreach Office, Noordwijk, The Netherlands, with special support from Roskosmos.
Content Design: Stephane Ghiste, Dmitriy Churkin, Raffaele Castellano, Matthew Day (HSO-UT)
Animation & Video Editing: Raffaele Castellano (HSO-UT), HSO-K
Project Coordination: Matthew Day, Stephane Ghiste, Dmitriy Churkin (HSO-UT)
Special thanks to:
Martin Schweiger (Orbiter software: http://orbit/medphys.ucl.ac.uk/)
Nikita Vtyurin, Andrew Thielmann (Orbiter Soyuz model)
Lionel Ferra (HSO-UT)
Oleg Polovnikov (HSO-UT)
Frank De Winne (HSO-A)
Paolo Nespoli (HSO-A)
Antonio Rodenas Bosque (HSO-UT)
NASA
ROSCOSMOS
S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia
Aerospace Search and Rescue Service of the Russian Federation
Parachute footage: Cambridge University Spaceflight
Surfer footage: copyright Red Bull Media House
Footage from inside Soyuz capsule courtesy of RSC Energia has limited rights:
a) These data are submitted with Limited Rights under Agreement among the Government of Canada, Governments of Member States of the European Space Agency, the Government of Japan, the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the United States of America concerning co-operation on the civil International Space Station.
These data may be used by the receiving co-operating agency and its contractors and subcontractors, provided that such data shall be used, duplicated or disclosed only for the following purposes, which are related to the Cooperating Agency Space Station Program for ISS:
1) Use for ESA astronaut training
2) Use for educational purposes
These data shall not be used by persons or entities other than the receiving Cooperating Agency, its contractors or subcontractors, or for any other purposes, without the prior written permission of the furnishing partner state, acting through its cooperating agency.
b) This notice shall be marked on any reproduction of these data in whole or part.
Captions available in English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Romanian (with thanks to Alexa Mirel) and Spanish. Click on the CC button to switch between languages.
