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4 Astronauts back to Earth in SpaceX capsule after 6 months

Four astronauts are back on Earth, having each completed their first long-duration spaceflight on the International Space Station (ISS). Stephen Bowen and Warren “Woody” Hoburg of NASA, Sultan AlNeyadi of the UAE (United Arab Emirates) and Andrey Fedyaev of Russia’s federal space corporation Roscosmos, collectively SpaceX‘s Crew-6, splashed down on board the company’s Dragon spacecraft “Endeavour” at 12:17 a.m. EDT (0417 GMT) on Monday (Sept. 4) in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida. Of the four, only Bowen had flown in space before. The Associated Press has the story:

4 Astronauts back to Earth in SpaceX capsule after 6 months

Newslooks- CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP)

Four astronauts returned to Earth early Monday after a six-month stay at the International Space Station. Their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the Atlantic off the Florida coast.

Returning were NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren “Woody” Hoburg, Russia’s Andrei Fedyaev and the United Arab Emirates’ Sultan al-Neyadi, the first person from the Arab world to spend an extended time in orbit.

In this image from video made available by NASA, a SpaceX capsule, slowed by parachutes, approaches the surface of the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast, Monday, Sept. 4, 2023, as it returns to Earth with NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi, NASA astronaut Warren (Woody) Hoburg and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev after a six-month stay at the International Space Station. (NASA via AP)

Before departing the space station, they said they were craving hot showers, steaming cups of coffee and the ocean air since arriving in March. Their homecoming was delayed a day because of poor weather at the splashdown locations, but in the end, provided a spectacular middle-of-the-night show as the capsule streaked through the sky over Cape Canaveral toward a splashdown near Jacksonville.

In this image from video made available by NASA, a SpaceX capsule, slowed by parachutes, splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast, Monday, Sept. 4, 2023, as it returns to Earth with NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi, NASA astronaut Warren (Woody) Hoburg and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev after a six-month stay at the International Space Station. (NASA via AP)

The astronauts said it was incredible to be back. “You’ve got a roomful of happy people here,” SpaceX Mission Control radioed.

SpaceX launched their replacements over a week ago.

In this photo provided by NASA, support teams work around a SpaceX capsule shortly after it splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Jacksonville, Fla., Monday, Sept. 4, 2023, with NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi, NASA astronaut Warren (Woody) Hoburg and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev aboard after a six-month stay at the International Space Station. (Joel Kowsky/NASA via AP)

Another crew switch will occur later this month with the long-awaited homecoming of two Russians and one American who have been up there an entire year. Their stay was doubled after their Soyuz capsule leaked all of its coolant and a new craft had to be launched.

In this May 2023 photo provided by NASA, clockwise from bottom, NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi, NASA astronaut Warren (Woody) Hoburg and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev pose for a portrait in their pressure suits aboard the International Space Station. The astronauts are back on Earth after a six-month stay at the International Space Station. Their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the Atlantic early Monday, Sept. 4, off the Florida coast. (NASA via AP)

Between crew swaps, the space station is home to seven astronauts.

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