Third all-private astronaut mission to space station returns to Earth
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying the third all-private astronaut crew successfully splashed down off the U.S. coast of Florida on Friday, marking the end of their mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
The mission, codenamed Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3), is the first all-European commercial astronaut mission to the ISS, according to NASA.
The spacecraft undocked from the ISS Harmony module on Wednesday to head back to Earth. The spacecraft splashed down off the coast of Daytona, Florida, on Friday morning, SpaceX confirmed.
The SpaceX Dragon returned to Earth with more than 550 pounds of science and supplies, including NASA experiments and hardware.
The four-member crew onboard the spacecraft were commander Michael Lopez-Alegria of the United States and Spain, pilot Walter Villadei of the Italian Air Force, and the two mission specialists: Alper Gezeravci of Türkiye, and European Space Agency project astronaut Marcus Wandt of Sweden.
The Dragon spacecraft was launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 18.
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