The SpaceX Crew-12 mission successfully returned to Earth on October 8, 2026, after nearly eight months in space. The Crew Dragon capsule, named “Freedom,” undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) on October 7, beginning a 27-hour journey back. It splashed down in the Pacific Ocean near Los Angeles at 11:34 a.m. EDT. The four astronauts—Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway from NASA, Sophie Adenot from the European Space Agency, and Andrey Fedyaev from Roscosmos—were safely extracted from the capsule and will undergo medical examinations before starting a 45-day postflight conditioning process to readjust to Earth’s gravity.
During their time aboard the ISS, the Crew-12 astronauts conducted various scientific experiments and maintenance tasks, with Meir completing four spacewalks. Adenot made history as the first French woman to walk in space. The mission was particularly notable for Adenot, who set a record for the longest continuous time in space for an ESA astronaut (237 days).
The Crew-12 mission was followed by the Crew-13 mission, which arrived at the ISS shortly before Crew-12’s return. Crew-12, which previously launched on February 13, served to return the station to its normal complement of astronauts after it had been operating with a reduced crew due to an earlier medical evacuation.
Meir expressed mixed emotions about returning to Earth, looking forward to reuniting with her daughter and experiencing nature again, while acknowledging the extraordinary views and weightlessness they enjoyed in space. A press conference discussing the mission’s details is scheduled for later today.
