4 ISS Astronauts Return to Earth After 6-Month Mission... Aboard SpaceX

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] Major foreign media reported that four astronauts who had been conducting research and other missions on the International Space Station (ISS) for six months returned to Earth on the 14th (local time) aboard a SpaceX spacecraft.

The fourth mission crew, 'Crew-4,' who were launched to the ISS on April 27th via SpaceX spacecraft, including Samantha Cristoforetti (45, Italy), Kjell Lindgren (49·USA), Jessica Watkins (34·USA), and Bob Hines (47·USA), returned to Earth. Their return was delayed for several days due to weather issues in Florida, USA, the landing site, but was completed on this day.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon manned capsule they boarded deployed large parachutes and landed in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida at 4:55 p.m. on the same day, just five hours after leaving the ISS. The Crew Dragon manned capsule rapidly re-entered Earth's atmosphere, enduring temperatures on the spacecraft surface rising up to 1930℃, then deployed two large parachutes to slow its descent speed to 24 km/h before splashing down in the sea. After landing in the ocean, the capsule was transferred to a waiting ship by the rescue team after about an hour.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that during the 170 days the Crew-4 members stayed on the ISS, they orbited the Earth 2,720 times every 90 minutes, covering a flight distance of 116 million kilometers.