SpaceX Crew-4 Returns with Splashdown on Florida’s Atlantic Coast

The SpaceX Dragon Freedom crew ship carrying four astronauts splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
The SpaceX Dragon Freedom crew ship carrying four astronauts splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

NASA astronauts Bob Hines, Kjell Lindgren, and Jessica Watkins, as well as ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti splashed down safely in the SpaceX Dragon Freedom in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, at 4:55 p.m. EDT after 170 days in space.

Teams on the Megan recovery ship, including two fast boats, now are in the process of securing Dragon and ensuring the spacecraft is safe for the recovery effort. As the fast boat teams complete their work, the recovery ship will move into position to hoist Dragon onto the main deck of Megan with the astronauts inside. Once on the main deck, the crew will be taken out of the spacecraft and receive medical checks before a helicopter ride to Jacksonville to board a plane for Houston.

More details about the mission and NASA’s commercial crew program can be found by following the commercial crew blog, @commercial_crew and commercial crew on Facebook.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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