Four astronauts who have been in space for eight months are preparing to head back to Earth, where they will make a water landing near California.
The impending departure of the astronauts who are part of a mission known as Crew-12 follows the Oct. 1 arrival of their Crew-13 replacements at the International Space Station. Those four astronauts launched earlier that same day from Florida as part of the latest joint venture between NASA and SpaceX to send astronauts to the orbital outpost for long-duration missions.
Now, the Crew-12 contingent, which includes two NASA astronauts, is due in the hours ahead to board a SpaceX vehicle that will shuttle them about 250 miles to the surface for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
Watch NASA+ content with
Amazon Prime Video
Want to watch the Dragon begin its return journey? Here's what to know and how to watch NASA's live coverage.
Astronauts to depart ISS on SpaceX vehicle after Crew-13 arrival
The Crew-12 astronauts, who arrived Feb. 14 at the space station, are scheduled to depart Wednesday, Oct. 7.
Early in the morning, NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, the European Space Agency's Sophie Adenot and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev will board the same SpaceX vehicle that brought them to the outpost eight months ago to head back to Earth.
The capsule, known as Dragon, is scheduled to undock at 5:05 a.m. PT from the Earth-facing port on the Harmony Module, which contains some sleeping quarters and connects the laboratories of the ISS.
SpaceX Dragon to make splashdown near California
If it departs on time, the vehicle is expected to make a parachute-assisted water landing Thursday, Oct. 8, in the Pacific Ocean near California.
After the Dragon spacecraft orbits Earth for about a day, NASA expects the splashdown to occur at 8:34 a.m. PT, the agency said in a blog post.
The parachute-assisted water landing would make the Dragon the latest spacecraft to splash into the Pacific Ocean after NASA and SpaceX in early 2025 shifted spaceflight recovery operations from Florida to the West Coast. Most recently, the four astronauts who traveled around the moon in April as part of NASA's Artemis II mission made a water landing off the coast of San Diego, bringing to an end a historic mission.
How to watch NASA coverage of astronauts return to Earth
NASA will provide live coverage throughout the Crew-12's more-than 27-hour return journey, the agency said in a press release.
The coverage begins at 3 a.m. PT Wednesday, Oct. 7, as the four astronauts board the vehicle and the hatch closes and continues at 4:45 a.m. when the crew is expected to undock. NASA will resume its live coverage at 7:20 a.m. PT Thursday, Oct. 8, as the vehicle approaches Earth and prepares to reenter the atmosphere for a water landing.
The coverage will be available to stream on the agency's free NASA+ app, as well as Amazon Prime, Discovery+ and YouTube.
SpaceX to livestream Crew-12 undocking
Because SpaceX provides launch and transportation services for NASA's crewed missions to the ISS, the commercial spaceflight company will also provide a livestream.
SpaceX's livestream is set to begin about 15 minutes before the Dragon departs and will be available on its website and on social media site X.
Livestream: Watch Crew-12 astronauts undock from ISS
What is the SpaceX Dragon capsule?
The SpaceX Dragon is the only U.S. vehicle capable of transporting astronauts to and from the space station.
Standing nearly 27 feet tall and about 13 feet wide, Dragon capsules can carry up to seven astronauts into orbit, though most of SpaceX's Crew missions, which are contracted with NASA, feature a contingent of four.
The Dragon is additionally among the cargo spacecraft that deliver science experiments and other cargo to the space station on a regular basis.
What astronauts are on the International Space Station?
At the moment, the space station is a little overcrowded.
That's because what's known as a handover period is underway as the new Crew-13 arrivals are acquainted with ISS operations before Meir, Hathaway, Adenot and Fedyaev depart.
The Crew-13 contingent includes NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Joshua Kutryk of the Canadian Space Agency and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov. The crew members arrived Oct. 1 after launching in a Dragon capsule atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
NASA astronaut Anil Menon also arrived in mid-July at the space station with Russians Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina on a Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft for an eight-month mission.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@usatodayco.com
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Astronauts to head back to Earth after 8 months in space. Watch live
Our editors independently choose our recommendations. Some content is produced with paid support from a third party, however our editorial decisions remain independent. If you buy through our links, the USA TODAY Network may earn a commission. Prices and availability may change.
