SpaceX Crew Dragon Returns Four Astronauts After 237-Day ISS Mission

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Freedom splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 11:34 a.m. ET on Thursday, returning four Crew-12 members after 237 days at the International Space Station. The capsule executed a nine-minute deorbit burn and deployed four main parachutes, slowing the spacecraft to roughly 15 mph before hitting the water about 50 miles west of Los Angeles. The crew—representing NASA, ESA, and Roscosmos—completed 3,792 orbits and covered nearly 101 million miles over the course of their mission, while conducting four spacewalks to maintain the station. The successful return clears the ISS Harmony module port for the upcoming CRS-35 cargo Dragon, which will deliver the final pair of Roll-Out Solar Arrays to the orbital outpost.