NASA Crew-12 astronauts splash down after 237-day ISS mission

NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, alongside European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, completed a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off California at 1534GMT on Thursday. The maneuver concluded their 237-day scientific expedition aboard the International Space Station, where Meir served as mission commander and Hathaway as pilot.

The Crew-12 complement launched toward the station on Feb. 13 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. They departed the orbital laboratory on Wednesday following the arrival of the Replacement Crew-13 mission, which launched Oct. 1 to maintain continuous human presence in low-Earth orbit.

NASA eyes Moon base as Mars precursor

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman told Fox Business that the agency views lunar exploration as essential preparation for deeper space missions. "We have to return to the moon. We have to build the moon base. We want to master the skills," he said, noting that teams aim to validate mobility suits, habitability, power systems and communications on the lunar surface.

Isaacman added that crewed flights to Mars represent the "next step on this journey," emphasizing that surface operations on the Moon will test critical technologies before attempting missions to the Red Planet.

Post-flight protocols and station continuity

The returning astronauts will now undergo standard medical evaluations and rehabilitation following their 237-day exposure to microgravity. The newly arrived Crew-13 complement has already begun its own scientific duties aboard the station, ensuring that research operations continue uninterrupted.

The Crew-12 mission marked the 12th crew rotation flight of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft under NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The initiative has maintained continuous human presence aboard the orbiting laboratory since its inception, supporting hundreds of scientific experiments in microgravity conditions.