Dragon Freedom Splashes Down Off Los Angeles: Crew-12's Biggest Records, Science Wins, and Surprises

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 08: NASA astronaut Jack Hathaway helped out of the SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship SHANNON after he, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev landed in the Pacific Ocean on October 8, 2026 off the coast of Los Angeles, California. Meir, Hathaway, Adenot, and Fedyaev are returning after seven-months in space as part of Expedition 74 aboard the International Space Station. (Credit: Photo by Keegan Barber/NASA via Getty Images)

The Briefing

• SpaceX's Dragon Freedom splashed down at 11:34 a.m. EDT on October 8, roughly 50 miles west of Los Angeles, returning Commander Jessica Meir and three crewmates after 237 days and more than 100 million miles in orbit.
• Meir exits the mission with 440 career days in space and 7 total spacewalks — third among all women astronauts in NASA history, behind Peggy Whitson's 10 and Suni Williams' 9.
• ESA mission specialist Sophie Adenot, on her first spaceflight, carried out 3 spacewalks and became the first French woman ever to conduct an extravehicular activity in space.