WASHINGTON -- Astronaut Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) returned to Earth on Saturday with three crewmates from the International Space Station (ISS).
A SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft left the ISS carrying the crew in the wee hours of the morning, then opened up its parachutes after entering the Earth's atmosphere. It splashed down off the coast of Florida at about 9 p.m. and was retrieved by a recovery ship.
Wakata and his crewmates from the United States and Russia had been on the ISS for an extended stay since October. This was Wakata's fourth time on the space station.
