The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, named Freedom, returned to Earth on October 8, 2026, at 18:34 Moscow time. The spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean near Los Angeles after a 27-hour journey from the International Space Station.
The crew included NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. The team spent eight months on the station, conducting maintenance and scientific experiments.
The mission launched on February 13 via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Following their return, the four crew members will undergo a 45-day post-flight adaptation period to adjust to Earth's gravity.
The Crew-12 mission was extended by several weeks due to the delayed launch of the replacement Crew-13 mission. The latter was postponed from September 12 to October 1 following an oxidizer leak in the Crew Dragon propulsion system.
