PACIFIC OCEAN – The Fram2 crew will return to Earth on Friday after nearly four days of flying in a polar orbit to explore the Earth’s polar regions, a historic first.

The SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying the Fram2 crew of four is scheduled to splash down at 12:19 p.m. EST in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.

This marks the first Dragon human spaceflight mission to splash down in the Pacific Ocean as Dragon recovery returns to the West Coast.

A Falcon 9 rocket launched Fram2 on March 31 from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

During their multi-day mission, the crew planned to conduct 22 research studies designed to help advance humanity’s capabilities for long-duration space exploration and the understanding of human health in space.

To-date, the crew has taken the first X-ray in space, performed exercise studies to maintain muscle and skeletal mass and grown mushrooms in microgravity.

After safely returning to Earth, the crew plans to exit from the Dragon spacecraft without additional medical and operational assistance, helping researchers characterize the ability of astronauts to perform unassisted functional tasks after short and long durations in space.