(Reuters) – Four astronauts returned to Earth on Friday aboard a SpaceX-made Crew Dragon capsule after a nearly six-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
The spacecraft landed, braked by a parachute, around 8:55 p.m. GMT in the Atlantic Ocean off Florida, after a five-hour return flight.
The crew consisted of American Jessica Watkins, 34, Americans Kjell Lindgren, 49, and Bob Hines, 47, and Italian Samantha Cristoferetti, 45, the expedition commander.
During their 170 days aboard the ISS, the four astronauts circled the Earth 2,720 times, once every 90 minutes or so, for a total of 116 million kilometers.
Their replacement team arrived a week ago on board the station.
(Written by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles, French version Jean-Stéphane Brosse)
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