Four Astronauts Fly SpaceX Again Dwelling, Finish 5-Month Mission

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Four area station astronauts returned to Earth late Saturday after a fast SpaceX flight residence.

Their capsule splashed down within the Gulf of Mexico simply off the Florida coast close to Tampa.

The U.S.-Russian-Japanese crew spent 5 months on the International Space Station, arriving last October. Besides dodging area junk, the astronauts needed to take care of a pair of leaking Russian capsules docked to the orbiting outpost and the urgent delivery of a replacement craft for the station’s different crew members.

Led by NASA’s Nicole Mann, the first Native American woman to fly in space, the astronauts checked out of the station early Saturday morning. Less than 19 hours later, their Dragon capsule was bobbing within the sea as they awaited pickup.

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“That was one heck of a trip,” Mann radioed moments after splashdown. “We’re blissful to be residence.”

Mann, a member of Northern California’s Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, mentioned she couldn’t wait to really feel the wind on her face, odor recent grass and luxuriate in some scrumptious Earth meals.

Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata craved sushi, whereas Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina yearned to drink scorching tea “from actual cup, not from plastic bag.”

NASA astronaut Josh Cassada’s to-do checklist included getting a rescue canine for his household. “Please do not inform our two cats,” he joked earlier than departing the area station.

Remaining behind on the area station are three Americans, three Russians and one from the United Arab Emirates.

Wakata, Japan’s spaceflight champion, now has logged greater than 500 days in area over 5 missions relationship again to NASA’s shuttle period.

___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives help from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely accountable for all content material.