From left, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 members Kirill Peskov of Roscosmos, NASA astronauts Nichole Ayers and Anne McClain, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Company) astronaut Takuya Onishi pose for a bunch portrait contained in the Worldwide Area Station’s Kibo laboratory module on July 19, 2025.
NASA
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NASA
A crew of 4 wrapped up an almost five-month keep on the Worldwide Area Station, splashing down within the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California beneath a cover of parachutes Saturday in the identical SpaceX capsule that launched NASA’s Crew-10 mission to the station again in March.
It took the capsule about 17 hours to make the journey house, experiencing re-entry temperatures of round 3,000 levels Fahrenheit because it punched via the ambiance following Friday’s undocking with the ISS.
The crew of NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Company (JAXA) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Russia’s Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov spent their time on the station conducting greater than 200 science experiments that helped put together people for exploration past low-Earth orbit that included materials research and experiments to higher perceive physiological and psychological modifications to the human physique.
“We bought to perform loads of actually superb operational issues. We bought to see some superb views, and now we have had some actually large stomach laughs and a beautiful time collectively,” mentioned NASA Nichole Ayers, the mission’s pilot.
It was the primary area mission for Ayers and fellow crewmate Peskov. It was the second journey to the station for McClain and Onishi.
Their replacements, Crew-11, arrived on the station every week in the past. NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, together with JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, will spend roughly six months on the orbiting lab conducting science experiments and upkeep.
That mission marked the twelfth time SpaceX launched NASA astronauts to the ISS. In 2020, the non-public firm started ferrying astronauts to the station as a part of the company’s Business Crew Program, ending a reliance on Russia for rides to the station after the retirement of the Area Shuttle program in 2011.
There was a continuing human presence on the area station since Oct. 31, 2000, however NASA and its worldwide companions plan to retire the ISS across the finish of the last decade. NASA is hoping business firms will launch new area stations for the company’s astronauts within the coming decade.
“All of us are keenly conscious that we could by no means get to do that once more,” mentioned McClain, Crew-10 commander, earlier than her departure. “We have been very pensive over the past days of understanding what now we have all bought to be part of.”
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