A recent private spaceflight concluded on Tuesday with a splashdown in the Pacific, carrying the first astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary in over 40 years.
The SpaceX capsule, after detaching from the International Space Station on Monday, descended into the ocean off the Southern California coast within a day.
The crew of four launched nearly three weeks ago on a flight chartered by the Houston company Axiom Space.
Leading the mission was Axiom’s Peggy Whitson, the U.S. astronaut with the most spaceflight experience. Accompanying her were India’s Shubhanshu Shukla, Poland’s Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, and Hungary’s Tibor Kapu, with each country investing over $65 million in the mission.
“Thanks for the great ride and safe trip,” Whitson radioed moments after splashdown. Her record now stands at 695 days in space over five missions, longer than any other American or woman.
The visiting astronauts conducted dozens of experiments in orbit while celebrating their heritage. The last time India, Poland and Hungary put anyone in space was during the late 1970s and 1980s, launching with the Soviets. They waved and smiled as they emerged from the capsule, one by one, into the early morning darkness.
It was Axiom’s fourth mission to the orbiting outpost since 2022, part of NASA’s ongoing effort to open up space to more businesses and people. The company is one of several developing their own space stations to replace the current one. NASA plans to abandon the outpost in 2030, after more than 30 years of operation.
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