NASA’s fourth commercial crew mission to the International Space Station was successfully completed on Friday when the Crew-4 astronauts from SpaceX safely splashed down off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida.

The four-member international crew was in orbit for 170 days.
At 4:55 p.m. EDT, NASA astronauts Bob Hines, Kjell Lindgren, and Jessica Watkins and ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti made their way down to Earth by parachute-assisted splashdown. The spacecraft and astronauts were rescued by crews using SpaceX recovery vessels. All astronauts will take a flight to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston after reaching land. After that, Cristoforetti will fly to Europe.

Crew-4, welcome home! This worldwide group has been working on scientific research for everyone’s benefit for about six months now. Future explorers will benefit from their work on board the orbiting laboratory, according to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Working and residing on the space station is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but it also necessitates sacrifices from these explorers, particularly time spent away from loved ones. Thank you for your contributions to science, invention, and discovery during the past six months, Kjell, Bob, Jessica, and Samantha!

Source: Prnewswire