NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 astronauts set to depart from ISS today after 8-month stay; splashdown set for Oct 8

Four members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission are ready to depart from the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday, October 7. Their SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to undock from the orbital outpost’s Harmony module at 8:05 am EDT and splash down in the Pacific Ocean at 11:34 am on Thursday, October 8. “Their departure will leave seven residents aboard the orbital outpost to continue advanced space research and lab maintenance,” NASA said in a statement, adding that the mission will come to an end after 237 days in space. Crew-12 launched on February 13 with Jessica Meir of NASA as the commander, Jack Hathaway (NASA) as the pilot, Sophie Adenot of ESA, and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev as mission specialists.

Over the last few days, Crew-12 was busy packing Dragon with personal items, cargo, and scientific samples before their scheduled departure. On October 4, Meir—who was also the commander of the ISS—handed over the symbolic key to Russian cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov in the exchange of command ceremony.

“Expedition 75 vibes. It was an honor and privilege to serve as Commander of the International Space Station!” Meir posted on X with pictures from the ceremony. “After welcoming Crew-13 this week to mark the second part of Expedition 75, today I handed over the key to the International Space Station to my friend and colleague Pyotr Dubrov. This ship is in the best of hands!” Dubrov is the commander of the MS-29 mission, which launched on July 14 this year from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. He was accompanied by NASA debutant Anil Menon and Russia’s only active female astronaut Anna Kikina on his trip to the ISS in a Soyuz spacecraft.

The number of ISS residents bumped up to eleven from seven after the arrival of four Crew-13 astronauts, who launched atop SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket on October 1 from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Their spacecraft docked with the station just 7 hours and 55 minutes after launch, making it the fastest trip to the outpost on an American vehicle. 

Crew-13 includes mission commander Jessica Watkins, who is the first NASA astronaut to ride the Dragon spacecraft twice. She is accompanied by Crew-12 pilot Luke Delaney of NASA, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov—both mission specialists. NASA said that the four members have already begun their research duties, which they will continue until their return next year. The MS-29 trio is also slated for return next year in the month of April. 

Live coverage of Crew-12’s return

NASA will begin the live coverage of Crew-12’s return at 6 am, with the foursome scheduled to close Dragon's hatch at around 6:20 am. The webcast will then resume at 7:45 am before the scheduled undocking from the Harmony Module. It will be followed by the splashdown coverage that will start at 10:20 am. You can watch the sequence live on NASA+, Amazon Prime, Discovery+, the agency’s X handle, as well as the YouTube channel.

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