NASA-SpaceX's Crew-12 astronauts to return from ISS: How to watch return trip and splashdown livestream
NASA is set to provide live views from space as three astronauts and a cosmonaut return home from the International Space Station (ISS) on October 7 as part of the Crew-12 mission. On Wednesday, the departing crew will make their way into SpaceX's Dragon crew capsule before the hatch is closed and the spacecraft undocks at 8:05 am EDT. Crew-12's journey to Earth will culminate on Thursday, and if all goes according to plan, splashdown is expected to occur at 11:34 am EDT. Here's everything you need to know about following their journey back home.
Expedition 75 welcomes four new crew members as another quartet prepares to return to Earth this week. The orbital residents are also preparing for upcoming cargo missions. More... https://t.co/LYO7hImJ4G https://t.co/JNy5BcLNpZ
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) October 5, 2026
How to watch hatch closure
Live streaming of the activities preceding the closing of the hatch will begin at 6 am EDT on NASA+ and the agency's website. Streaming will also be available on social media platforms, including the agency's X and YouTube channels. The closure of the hatch between the Dragon capsule, named 'Freedom', and the space-facing port of the station’s Harmony module is expected to happen at 6:20 am EDT. The coverage may look a bit different from the last such departure, when teams on the ground and the members of Crew-11 had to execute an impromptu evacuation following a health scare for NASA's Mike Fincke.
How to watch undocking
Coverage of the undocking of Freedom is scheduled to begin 20 minutes prior to departure, at 7:45 am EDT. Streaming will be available on the same platforms as mentioned above. Once Freedom is undocked and gradually moves away from the orbital outpost, the coverage will transition to audio-only communications. This will include conversations between the astronauts and the Mission Control Center at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, along with live external views from the ISS.
How to watch splashdown
As Crew-12 nears the end of its journey to Earth, live streaming will resume on October 8 at 10:20 am EDT. The deorbit burn, which will initiate Freedom's descent, is expected to be performed at 10:46 am EDT. Following a fiery reentry into the Earth's atmosphere, NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, the European Space Agency's Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev will splash down into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.
Live updates after the mission ends
NASA will provide updates on the health of Crew-12 as well as Freedom in the immediate hours after the splashdown. A panel consisting of officials from both NASA and SpaceX will address the press at 1:15 pm EDT, which will also stream on NASA's social media platforms. They will also preview the 35th Commercial Resupply Services mission to the space station, which will deliver supplies and hardware in a Dragon cargo capsule no earlier than October 13, 2026.
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