Summary
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 returned to Earth on Oct. 8, 2026, after 237 days aboard the International Space Station. The crew completed more than 3,792 Earth orbits and conducted research on health and technologies for future missions.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission returned to Earth on Oct. 8, 2026, when the Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Los Angeles. NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev had spent 237 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
The spacecraft landed at 8:34 a.m. PDT. SpaceX recovery teams retrieved the crew and capsule shortly afterward. The astronauts underwent standard postflight medical screenings before travelling ashore and returning to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
A long-duration mission of research and operations
NASA reported that the crew travelled more than 100 million miles and completed more than 3,792 orbits around Earth during the mission. The mileage is accumulated travel along the crew’s repeated orbital path, not the spacecraft’s distance from Earth. Crew-12 launched at 5:15 a.m. EST on Feb. 13 and docked with the station the following day.
The flight was the second space mission for Meir and Fedyaev, and the first for Hathaway and Adenot. NASA said the crew spent hundreds of hours on scientific research, including testing stem-cell production for cell-based therapies and demonstrating a way to generate intravenous fluids on demand for future missions. Another investigation studied how the bacterium that causes pneumonia can contribute to long-term heart damage. The crew also worked on nutrition research and examined how physical characteristics may affect blood flow during spaceflight.
These projects span human health and technologies intended for use on future missions. NASA describes research aboard the station as a way to advance knowledge and demonstrate technologies that can help prepare for human exploration of the Moon and Mars. The agency’s release lists the areas studied but does not report results from the individual investigations.
The mission also included spacewalks. Meir completed four, bringing her career total to seven—the third-highest total among women at NASA, behind former astronauts Peggy Whitson and Suni Williams. Adenot completed three spacewalks and became the first French woman to venture outside the orbital outpost.
NASA’s Low Earth Orbit Program works with private U.S. companies, including SpaceX, to transport astronauts to and from the ISS and support research and development there. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman described building the experience to repeat those operations as part of preparing to travel farther into space.