space explorers descend back to Earth on SpaceX's craft, marking the conclusion of a half-year mission aboard the International Space Station.
On August 9, 2025, four astronauts—NASA's Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA's Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos' Kirill Peskov—returned to Earth following a 148-day mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as part of NASA's SpaceX Crew-10 mission. The historic splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California marked a significant event in the history of space travel, as it was the first NASA Commercial Crew Program splashdown in the Pacific rather than the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico.
The astronauts' journey began on March 14, 2025, when they launched from Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. The Dragon spacecraft docked to the Harmony module at the ISS on March 16, 2025. During their mission, the crew conducted numerous scientific experiments on the ISS.
On August 8, 2025, the crew undocked from the ISS and re-entered Earth's atmosphere. At 11:33 a.m. EDT on August 9, 2025, the SpaceX Dragon capsule splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego, California. SpaceX recovery teams aboard vessels retrieved the capsule and the astronauts, who were subsequently flown to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston for post-mission medical checks and reunions with families.
This was NASA's 10th Commercial Crew rotation mission, and it represented a milestone for expanding splashdown locations for crewed spaceflight returns. The change in capsule return location was made to reduce the risk of debris falling on populated areas. SpaceX's company, led by Elon Musk, switched capsule returns from Florida to California's coast earlier this year.
Anne McClain, one of the NASA astronauts on the mission, expressed that their mission was a reminder of what people can do when they work together and explore together. McClain also made a note of "some tumultuous times on Earth" with people struggling before leaving the space station.
Interestingly, this is the first time a NASA crew has returned to the Pacific since the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission, a détente meet-up of Americans and Soviets in orbit. The last time NASA astronauts returned to the Pacific from space was during the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission. The two NASA astronauts who were initially assigned to Boeing's Starliner's botched demo were kept at the space station for more than nine months. Butch Wilmore, one of these astronauts, has since retired from NASA.
The Pacific splashdown is a significant event in the history of space travel, marking a return to a location not visited by NASA astronauts in half a century. The back-to-back private crews experiencing Pacific homecomings for the first time further underscores the importance of this event. NASA ordered Boeing's new crew capsule to return empty and switched the pair to SpaceX, while Elon Musk's company implemented the new practice of changing capsule return locations.
Overall, the SpaceX Crew-10 mission successfully demonstrated continued safe access to and from low Earth orbit, supporting NASA's goals for human space exploration and collaboration with international partners.
- During their mission aboard the ISS, the astronauts, including Anne McClain, conducted numerous experiments in various fields such as science and education.
- The change in capsule return location for NASA's Commercial Crew Program from the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean is a strategic move to reduce the risk of debris falling on populated areas, exemplified by SpaceX's change in capsule returns from Florida to California's coast earlier this year.
- The Pacific splashdown of the SpaceX Dragon capsule, marking the first NASA crew return to the Pacific since the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission, serves as a testament to the importance of private crewed spaceflight returns and the continued collaboration between NASA and international partners in the space-and-astronomy field.
