Crew-12 Heads Home: Watch the Pacific Splashdown Live

Four astronauts depart the ISS on Oct. 7, targeting a California coast splashdown the following morning.

By The space-quantum Desk

After months aboard the International Space Station, NASA's SpaceX Crew-12 mission is scheduled to undock no earlier than 8:05 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, Oct. 7, with splashdown off the coast of California targeted for approximately 11:34 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8. [1]

The returning crew includes NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev — a four-agency team closing out a long-duration rotation aboard the orbital complex. [1]

Long-duration missions like this one trace the slow, methodical work of keeping humans in orbit: not a sprint but a sustained commitment, measured in crew rotations and splashdowns.

Mission managers continue monitoring conditions in the recovery area, as undocking of the SpaceX Dragon depends on spacecraft readiness, recovery team readiness, weather conditions in the Pacific off the coast of California, and other factors. [1] NASA's live coverage begins with hatch closure at 6 a.m. EDT, followed by undocking coverage at 7:45 a.m. and return coverage at 10:20 a.m. [1]

A post-splashdown briefing at 1:15 p.m. will cover both the Crew-12 return and the upcoming SpaceX Commercial Resupply Services-35 launch — the station's schedule never quite pauses. [1]

undocking of the SpaceX Dragon depends on spacecraft readiness, recovery team readiness, weather conditions in the Pacific off the coast of California, and other factorsNASA Mission Managers