Crew-10 returns from ISS after five months

A four-person crew completes a nearly five-month stay on the International Space Station and returns to Earth in a SpaceX Dragon capsule.

Crew-10 returns from ISS after five months

A four-person crew completed NASA's Crew-10 mission after a five-month stay aboard the International Space Station and splashed down in the Pacific off California in a SpaceX Dragon capsule on Saturday, following undocking on Friday. The return trip took about 17 hours, with re-entry temperatures near 3000 degrees Fahrenheit as the capsule re-entered Earth’s atmosphere. The crew, including NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, conducted more than 200 science experiments before leaving the station.

The landing underscores how much NASA relies on private partners to keep people in orbit and bring them home. It also signals a longer transition from the ISS to commercially run platforms, with international partners remaining a stabilizing force. The next phase will test budgets, governance, and how quickly the private sector can scale a reliable, long‑term outpost network. Public perception will hinge on whether this model delivers scientific value at sustainable costs.

Highlights

The next chapter of space exploration will test how far private platforms can carry national science ambitions.