PRIANGAN AREA – The fourth full-length team of astronauts launched by SpaceX on the International Space Station (ISS) returned safely to Earth on Friday.
The SpaceX capsule landed in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida after nearly six months of research aboard the orbital outpost.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, nicknamed Freedom, carrying three US NASA astronauts and an Italian European Space Agency crew, was parachuted overboard after a five-hour autonomous flight home from the ISS.
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Splashdown under clear skies, around 4:55 pm EDT (2055 GMT), broadcast live on the NASA-SpaceX webcast.
Freedom began orbiting on April 27. The crew consisted of NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, 49, American colleagues Jessica Watkins, 34, and Bob Hines, 47, and Samantha Cristoforetti, 45, from Italy, who was the commander of their expedition on the ISS.
Watkins became the first African American woman to join the long-standing mission of the ISS.
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In less than an hour, the recovery team had hoisted the burning Crew Dragon onto the recovery ship before opening the pod’s side hatch and helping the four astronauts out one by one for the first extra breath of fresh air. of 24 weeks.
