After Six Months in Orbit, NASA’s Crew-10 Touches Down—What They Brought Back
📷 Image source: nasa.gov
Splashdown in the Pacific
A Textbook Landing After 199 Days
The SpaceX Dragon capsule hit the water off the coast of California just before dawn, its parachutes billowing against a pink-streaked sky. Inside, NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara, along with ESA’s Andreas Mogensen and JAXA’s Satoshi Furukawa, were weightless one moment and bobbing in the ocean the next. The Crew-10 mission had officially ended its 199-day stay at the International Space Station—a stint that included everything from fixing a busted solar array to growing experimental space tomatoes.
Recovery teams swarmed the capsule within minutes, hoisting it onto a waiting ship. The astronauts, grinning but visibly fatigued, gave thumbs-up as they were helped out. 'Smells like Earth,' Moghbeli joked, inhaling deeply. The crew had spent the last two weeks prepping for this moment, exercising rigorously to readapt to gravity. Still, O’Hara wobbled slightly as she took her first steps.
Why This Mission Mattered
More Than Just a Routine Rotation
Crew-10 wasn’t just another shift change in orbit. This mission marked NASA’s 10th operational crewed flight with SpaceX—a partnership that’s now the backbone of U.S. spaceflight. But beyond the milestone, the crew’s work underscored the ISS’s evolving role. With the station’s retirement looming by 2030, every experiment now feels urgent.
Mogensen spent months testing a new European robotic arm designed for delicate repairs, a skill that’ll be crucial for future deep-space missions. Furukawa ran Japan’s first protein crystallization studies in microgravity, which could unlock new drug therapies. And then there were the tomatoes. NASA’s veggie-growing experiments aren’t just about salad—they’re about survival. 'If we’re going to Mars,' said ISS Program Manager Joel Montalbano, 'we need to know we can feed ourselves.'
The Close Call Nobody Saw Coming
The mission nearly derailed in January. A Russian satellite, Cosmos 2221, broke apart unexpectedly, sending debris hurtling toward the ISS. The crew scrambled into their Dragon and Soyuz capsules, ready to evacuate. For 90 tense minutes, ground teams tracked the shrapnel. It missed—but just barely. 'That was the longest hour and a half of my life,' O’Hara admitted post-landing.
The incident reignited debates about space traffic management. Over 27,000 trackable objects now orbit Earth, and the 1967 Outer Space Treaty is woefully outdated. 'We got lucky this time,' said Harvard astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell. 'Next time, we might not.'
What’s Next for the Crew
Data, Debriefs, and Maybe Some Pizza
After medical checks in Houston, the astronauts face months of debriefs. Their bodies are time capsules of space’s effects: weakened bones, altered vision, and microbial shifts from six months of sterile living. Researchers will pore over this data for clues about long-duration travel.
But first, cravings must be satisfied. 'I dreamt about sushi,' Furukawa told reporters. Mogensen craved Danish pastries. For Moghbeli? 'A real shower.' Meanwhile, SpaceX’s Dragon is already being prepped for its next flight—proof that in modern spaceflight, the wheels never stop turning.
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