Return of the Ax-4 Crew from the International Space Station

Four astronauts have safely descended back to Earth after spending over two weeks aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Their spacecraft, the SpaceX Crew Dragon named “Grace,” successfully splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off California early this morning at 5:32 a.m. EDT.

The capsule undocked from the ISS on July 14 at 7:15 a.m. EDT, marking the start of their approximately 22-hour journey home. The final descent involved atmospheric reentry, during which drogue chutes deployed first to stabilize the capsule, followed by the main chutes to slow its descent further.

Commander Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut and now Axiom’s director of human spaceflight, extended her record for total days in space by an American to 695. The crew included three first-time astronauts from countries without previous ISS experience: Indian pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, Polish astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, and Hungarian mission specialist Tibor Kapu.

The mission, launched on June 26 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center via a Falcon 9 rocket, was initially planned for two weeks but was extended by four days to optimize orbital positioning for the return. During their stay, the crew conducted over 60 experiments and outreach activities, involving contributions from 31 countries in total.

The spacecraft’s descent was captured in a night-vision image as it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, and it safely deployed parachutes to anchor its final descent. Upon landing, the crew was greeted by the recovery vessel “Shannon” and will now readjust to Earth’s gravity.

This marked SpaceX’s second crew recovery off the Pacific Coast, aiming to minimize debris risks associated with the capsule’s reentry. The next crew headed to the ISS is scheduled for no earlier than July 31 with SpaceX’s Crew-11 mission, continuing NASA’s crew rotation efforts for the orbital station.