SpaceX Crew-12 Returns: Dragon Capsule Splashes Down After 237 Days in Orbit

A SpaceX capsule carrying four astronauts returned from space and splashed down off the coast of California, capping the crew's mission to the International Space Station. The crew, part of a mission called Crew-12, had been living and working on the ISS since February, after launching to space in the same SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that brought them home. The successful splashdown marks the end of a long-duration stay aboard the orbiting laboratory, where the astronauts conducted research and maintenance over roughly 237 days. Their return depended on the Dragon capsule's reentry and parachute-assisted descent, a sequence SpaceX has now demonstrated repeatedly. The mission underscores the central role commercial vehicles now play in ferrying crews to and from the ISS, and it adds another data point to SpaceX's operational record as NASA continues to rely on private partners for human spaceflight.