Crew-7 astronauts depart ISS after nearly 200 days in space
After a slightly extended stay on board the International Space Station, four astronauts from four international space agencies climbed aboard the Spacex Crew Dragon Endurance and began their return trip to Earth.
Crew-7 is made up of NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, Japan Aerospace Exploration
Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov.
The quartet that launched from Kennedy Space Center back on Aug. 26, 2023 arrived to the ISS one day later to begin their 197-day stay, the second longest among the now eight completed Spacex Crew Dragon trips so far to the ISS under NASA’S Commercial Crew Program. Only Crew-2 in 2021 bested their stay, and by just one day.
They departed the station at 11:20 a.m. EDT and now have a more than 18-hour ride home. Depending on the weather, they are slated to splash down at one of seven target locations off the coast of Florida in either the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday around 5:50 a.m. EDT with live coverage beginning on NASA TV at 4:30 a.m.
Including the trips to and from the station, Crew-7 will have spent more than 199 days in space.
“Safe travels Crew-7 and we’ll see you at home,” said Spacex mission control on departure.
Moghbeli thanked the remaining members of Expedition 70 who will transition to Expedition 71 left on board the
ISS. That transition will happen when fellow NASA astronaut Loral O’hara returns to Earth in early April in a Soyuz spacecraft.
“For those staying on board on Expedition
71 we hope that that’s filled with laughter and fulfilling science as our was,” Moghbeli said. “And Laurel, we’ll see you in a couple of weeks, and we left you some peanut butter and tortillas in Node 1.”
It’s the second time a departing Spacex Crew Dragon crew has left behind some peanut butter for O’hara, who was also the recipient of the treat when the private Axiom Space Ax-3 crew left in February.
“Congrats on the departure. I miss you guys already and thanks for that very generous gift,” O’hara said. “Have a beautiful flight. Enjoy the last few hours in orbit and soft landings. Can’t wait to see you guys in a couple of weeks.”
The program aims for about 180-day visits by rotational crews, but most have actually been shorter. Crew-7’s original target return date was late February, but their relief didn’t arrive until last week because of both weather delays and the availability of Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A.