A little while ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft completed its Crew-12, or SpaceX Crew-12, mission for NASA with a successful splashdown. Aboard were astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, and Sophie Adenot, and cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, who had arrived at the International Space Station on February 14, 2026, as part of Expedition 74/75. The Crew-12 members completed SpaceX’s 12th regular crewed mission in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California. The Crew Dragon had left the Station approximately 27 hours earlier.
Shortly after splashdown, SpaceX’s “MV Shannon” ship picked up Freedom and its crew and transported them to shore. Support personnel also used some speedboats for the recovery operations. The astronauts also received their first medical checks aboard the ship.
During the first two and a half months of Expedition 75, there were no spacecraft arrivals or departures. Instead, a total of four spacewalks were conducted. On August 6, Jessica Meir and her fellow astronaut Anil Menon spent approximately 6.5 hours preparing electrical connections for the future installation of new IROSA solar arrays, which will provide additional power to the International Space Station. On August 18, the two astronauts spent nearly the same amount of time removing a failed communications antenna and taking out old electrical components to prepare for the installation of a replacement antenna. On August 25, the two astronauts spent almost exactly 6.5 hours installing the new antenna. On September 1, Jessica Meir and Sophie Adenot spent almost 7 hours installing a new retroreflector on the Station’s Harmony module, replacing a high-resolution camera, collecting samples to check for microorganisms, and carrying out part of the installation of new electrical systems.
On Monday, October 5, astronaut Jessica Meir officially handed over command of the International Space Station to Russian cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov.
The Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft has completed its 5th space mission. It will be overhauled, like every spacecraft after each return to Earth. SpaceX continues to fly missions under its contract with NASA, which provides the US with a means of transportation independent of other nations, as well as private missions.
