NASA confirmed that SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Freedom splashed down at 8:34 a.m. PDT on October 8, 2026, in the Pacific Ocean off Los Angeles. Recovery teams retrieved the spacecraft and the four astronauts shortly afterward.
Crew-12 splashed down in the Pacific
The return brought NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev back to Earth. SpaceX operated the Dragon spacecraft and recovery vessels.
Our earlier coverage of the planned return outlined the schedule; NASA later confirmed the completed splashdown on October 8.
The four astronauts and NASA’s mission totals
NASA says the crew spent 237 days in orbit, traveled more than 100 million miles and completed more than 3,792 orbits of Earth. Meir commanded the mission, Hathaway was its pilot, and Adenot and Fedyaev served as mission specialists.
From launch to splashdown
Crew-12 launched on February 13, 2026, and docked with the International Space Station the next day. The crew returned aboard Freedom on October 8.
