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Four astronauts aboard the SpaceX Crew-8 mission have undocked from the International Space Station and are on their way back to Earth. The journey will take approximately 34 hours, with a planned splashdown off the coast of Florida early Friday morning.
The crew, consisting of three NASA astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut, spent over seven months on the ISS. They encountered delays due to weather and scheduling conflicts.
During their departure, the astronauts bid farewell to the spacecraft that carried them to and from the ISS. The undocking process was fully automated and took about five minutes.
Views from inside the spacecraft showed the astronauts strapped in and wearing spacesuits. They closed the hatch and prepared for the journey home.
Crew-8 launched to the ISS in March and successfully docked a day later. Their return was delayed due to severe weather and issues with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. Endeavour had to be reconfigured to accommodate two extra astronauts in case of an emergency evacuation.
Wilmore and Williams, who experienced problems with Starliner, are expected to return to the ISS with Crew-9 in 2025.