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A screenshot from a video made available by NASA of a SpaceX capsule, slowed by parachutes, as it splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast, September 4, 2023. /CFP
A screenshot from a video made available by NASA of a SpaceX capsule, slowed by parachutes, as it splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast, September 4, 2023. /CFP
A SpaceX Dragon capsule splashed down off the coast of the southeastern U.S. state of Florida on Monday, returning four Crew-6 astronauts from the International Space Station after six months.
The four-member international crew, consisting of NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg, UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, and Roscosmos (Russia’s state space corporation) cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, returned to Earth in a parachute-assisted splashdown off the coast of Florida at 12:17 a.m. Monday Eastern Time (1617 Monday GMT).
The astronauts said it was incredible to be back. “You’ve got a roomful of happy people here,” SpaceX Mission Control radioed.
The spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) at 7:05 a.m. Sunday Eastern Time (1105 Sunday GMT). The mission was launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 2, and docked at the ISS the next day. The crew has been living and working aboard the ISS for six months.
During the mission, the crew contributed to hundreds of experiments and technology demonstrations, including student robotic challenges, plant genetics, and human health in microgravity to prepare for exploration beyond low Earth orbit and to benefit life on Earth, according to NASA.
The mission, codenamed Crew-6, is the sixth crew rotation flight of a Dragon spacecraft as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
(With input from Xinhua)
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