NASA Announces Live Coverage of SpaceX Crew-12 Return and Pacific Ocean Splashdown

NASA and SpaceX have scheduled the undocking of Crew-12 from the International Space Station for October 7 at 8:05 a.m. EDT, with splashdown off the California coast targeted for October 8 at approximately 11:34 a.m. EDT. The mission includes four crew members: NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. NASA will provide live streaming coverage across multiple platforms of the undocking, return, and splashdown operations.

The Crew-12 mission represents a collaborative effort among three international space agencies. NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway will command and pilot the Dragon spacecraft, while their crewmates—Sophie Adenot from the European Space Agency and Andrey Fedyaev from Russia's space program—serve as mission specialists. This international composition underscores the ongoing cooperation between nations in human spaceflight operations despite geopolitical tensions.

The return sequence involves multiple critical phases that NASA will document in real time. Following hatch closure and undocking procedures on October 7, the Dragon capsule will transit away from the station before executing a deorbit burn to begin its descent. The splashdown recovery process off California's coast concludes the mission, with post-landing briefings planned to discuss mission outcomes and upcoming commercial resupply operations.