Crew-10 Returns to Earth in Historic Pacific Splashdown

The Crew-10 mission concluded Saturday morning with a successful splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California—marking the first time a NASA Commercial Crew Program flight has landed outside of Florida. The Dragon capsule, carrying astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers of NASA, Takuya Onishi from Japan’s space agency (JAXA), and cosmonaut Kirill Peskov representing Roscosmos, touched down at 11:33 a.m. EDT.

The SpaceX recovery vessel MV Shannon promptly secured the Dragon capsule, facilitating the crew’s transfer aboard. Following standard pressure equalization procedures, a NASA medical professional conducted initial assessments after the spacecraft hatch was opened. NASA spokesperson Raegan Scharfetter described the landing conditions as “fairly decent” during the agency’s live broadcast of the event.

The egress process took roughly an hour from splashdown to when all four crew members were safely aboard the recovery ship. The mission’s departure from the International Space Station had been slated for Thursday, but was postponed due to adverse weather conditions at the intended landing zone. Crew-10’s five-month research and science experiment period aboard the ISS culminated in a separation sequence confirmed Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. EDT.

Before their departure from the space station, Ayers shared reflections on her social media channels, expressing gratitude for her fellow crew members and highlighting the collaborative spirit of the mission. “Wow. I can’t believe how fast the time went by and that we are already on our last day in space,” she wrote.

The fully-autonomous Falcon 9 rocket propelled the Dragon capsule back to Earth, with a successful separation occurring just before 11:00 a.m. EDT Saturday, as livestreamed by NASA. Following recovery operations, the crew will undergo medical evaluations and then be transported to Houston, Texas. Crew-10 initially launched from Kennedy Space Center on March 14, utilizing a Falcon 9 rocket manufactured by SpaceX. Their arrival at the ISS two days later enabled them to relieve other astronauts, including those previously awaiting return transport after arriving via Boeing’s Starliner capsule.