Crew departs from space station for journey home to Earth
The Crew-10 mission, which launched into space on March 14, 2025, aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule named Endurance, concluded with a successful return to Earth on August 9, 2025. The capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off California, marking the first NASA-sponsored Crew Dragon splashdown in this location [1][2][4].
The four astronauts onboard the Crew-10 mission were Anne McClain (commander, NASA), Nichole Ayers (pilot, NASA), Takuya Onishi (mission specialist, JAXA), and Kirill Peskov (mission specialist, Roscosmos) [1]. During their mission, they completed 2,368 orbits around Earth and traveled nearly 62.8 million miles [2][5].
The scientific work conducted by the crew spanned hundreds of hours and focused on several areas, including plant and microalgae growth in microgravity, the effects of space radiation on DNA sequences in plants, and changes to human eye structure and other body cells caused by microgravity [2][5]. These investigations were aimed at advancing knowledge beneficial for future human exploration of the Moon and Mars [2].
Crew-10 also performed maintenance and upgrades on the International Space Station (ISS), including a spacewalk on May 1, where McClain and Ayers relocated a communications antenna and began installing a mounting bracket for a future Roll-Out Solar Array. This was McClain’s third spacewalk and Ayers’ first [2].
It's worth noting that US astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were not part of the Crew-10 mission. Wilmore has since announced his retirement after 25 years of service at NASA [1]. Last week, a new crew, consisting of US astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan's Kimiya Yui, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, boarded the ISS for a six-month mission [6].
Upon returning, the astronauts will be recovered by a SpaceX ship and hoisted aboard. After months in space, they will finally be able to breathe Earth's air again [3]. The spacecraft they are returning in is the Dragon capsule of SpaceX, owned by billionaire Elon Musk. Originally, the spaceship they were in, Boeing Starliner, developed propulsion problems and was deemed unfit to fly back [4].
A post-mission news conference featuring McClain, Ayers, and Onishi is scheduled for August 20, 2025, to discuss their science mission achievements aboard the station [5].
Key Points
- Mission duration: Nearly 5 months (March 14 - Aug 9, 2025)
- Crew members: Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, Takuya Onishi, Kirill Peskov
- Scientific experiments: Plant/microalgae growth, DNA effects of radiation, human eye/ cell structure in microgravity
- Spacewalks: May 1: antenna relocation & solar array bracket installation
- Total orbits: 2,368
- Distance traveled: ~62.8 million miles
- Return splashdown: Pacific Ocean off California — first NASA Crew Dragon landing there
- Butch Wilmore & Suni Williams: Not part of Crew-10
This information is synthesized from multiple NASA, Space.com, Spaceflight Now, and SpaceX sources [1][2][4][5][6].
References:
- NASA
- Space.com
- Spaceflight Now
- SpaceX
- Post-mission news conference announcement
- New crew on ISS announcement
- The Crew-10 mission, the splashdown of which marked the first NASA-sponsored Crew Dragon splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off California, was focused on scientific research in space-and-astronomy, technology, and general-news, with a duration of nearly 5 months and a crew consisting of Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, Takuya Onishi, and Kirill Peskov.
- During their mission, the four astronauts of Crew-10 conducted extensive experiments in areas such as plant and microalgae growth, effects of space radiation on DNA sequences, and changes to human eye structure and other body cells, aiming to advance knowledge beneficial for future human exploration of the Moon and Mars.
