Crew-7 astronauts safely splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico at 4:47 am CDT on March 12th to mark the end of a six-month mission to the International Space Station. Following the arrival of Crew-8, the two crews completed Station handover responsibilities and Crew-7 undocked from the ISS at 10:20 am CDT on March 11th to head back to Earth.
Jasmin Moghbeli, Andreas Mogensen, Satoshi Furukawa, and Konstantin Borisov returned aboard Dragon spacecraft Endurance, the same spacecraft they launched to the Station in on August 26, 2023. Following a deorbit burn, Endurance’s main parachutes deployed, allowing for splashdown off the coast of Pensacola, Florida.
Good weather, calm seas, and an experienced recovery team led to the fastest capsule recovery operation and astronaut egress.
During the crew’s six-month stay on Station, they conducted science research and technology demonstrations and performed vital station maintenance. Jasmin Moghbeli conducted a spacewalk with fellow NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara, who launched to Station on a Soyuz on September 27th, 2023. The crew also welcomed the arrival of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft named the S.S. Patricia “Patty” Hilliard Robertson.
Crew-7 is the 8th of 9 crewed SpaceX mission as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Crew Dragon Endurance will be refurbished and prepared for a future flight by SpaceX.
