The astronaut team has returned to Earth.
NASA’s Crew-3 mission returned to Earth on Friday after six months on the International Space Station.
Kayla Barron, Raja Chari, and Tom Marshburn of NASA, as well as Matthias Maurer of the European Space Agency, had de-docked from the orbiting laboratory the day before.
After a 23.5-hour journey, they landed at 12:43 a.m. off the coast of Florida (0443 GMT).
As the capsule touched down, a SpaceX spokeswoman said to the crew, “Welcome home, on behalf of the entire SpaceX team.”
From Crew-4, one Italian astronaut, three Americans, and three Russian cosmonauts were left behind. Before leaving, Marshburn handed over command of the station to Russian Oleg Artemyev.
During their mission, Crew-3 conducted hundreds of scientific experiments, including growing chilies.
“Every day in @Space Station is #EarthDay for @NASA Astronauts because we witness how thin the beautiful veil that shields all we know & love as a human species is,” Crew-3 leader Chari tweeted on Thursday.
“Hopefully, @NASA research will aid in water purification and carbon dioxide emissions reduction, but the rest is up to us.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz greeted Maurer, Germany’s 12th astronaut, a “pleasant and safe flight back with a comfortable landing” on Twitter on Thursday, complimenting him for “all the new discoveries in space that are so crucial for us here on Earth.”
The mission of Crew-3 occurred at a time when commercial space is getting increasingly crowded.
They were received by a private crew of three well-heeled businessmen.
