ORLANDO, Fla. — After weather delayed their departure for two days, four astronauts climbed on board the SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom on Friday to take a five-hour ride back down to Earth to conclude their nearly six-month mission to the International Space Station.
The spacecraft hit the water off the coast of Jacksonville in the Atlantic Ocean at 4:55 p.m. Eastern time to bring NASA’s Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins as well as the European Space Agency's Samantha Cristoforetti of Italy back home after spending nearly 170 days on the orbiting station.
The quartet launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 27 on a SpaceX Falcon 9.
