Crew-12 Is Set to Undock Wednesday and Splash Down Thursday
NASA is targeting no earlier than 8:05 a.m. EDT Wednesday, Oct. 7, for Crew-12 to leave the station. Splashdown off California is about 11:34 a.m. EDT Thursday. The crew has been up since Feb. 14.
So basically: Crew-12 is heading home this week. NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than 8:05 a.m. EDT Wednesday, Oct. 7, for the Dragon to undock from the space station. Splashdown off California is set for about 11:34 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 8.
The schedule
These are NASA’s times, all Eastern, and they can change.
Wednesday, Oct. 7: coverage starts at 6 a.m. The hatch closes at 6:20 a.m. Undocking coverage starts at 7:45 a.m. Undocking is 8:05 a.m.
Thursday, Oct. 8: return coverage starts at 10:20 a.m. The deorbit burn is 10:46 a.m. Splashdown is 11:34 a.m. NASA has a briefing at 1:15 p.m. on the return and the next cargo Dragon, CRS-35.
The time moved. NASA’s Oct. 3 post targeted 1:05 a.m. Wednesday with splashdown around 11:25 a.m. Thursday. The Oct. 5 advisory says 8:05 a.m. and 11:34 a.m. NASA did not say why.
Who is coming home
NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, the commander, and Jack Hathaway, the pilot. ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot. Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.
They have been on the station since Feb. 14. NASA calls it a nearly eight-month stay.
The Dragon leaves from the space-facing port on the Harmony module. Then the crew spends just over a day in orbit before reentry and a parachute splashdown in the Pacific.
On Sunday, Oct. 4, Meir handed command of the station to Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov. Dubrov, Anna Kikina, and NASA’s Anil Menon stay until spring 2027. Crew-13 arrived Oct. 1, so there are 11 people aboard right now.
What else is moving
NASA says Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL cargo ship is set to be released with the station’s robotic arm at the end of this week. SpaceX’s 35th cargo Dragon launches after that. NASA did not give a launch date in these posts.
What it is not
This is a target, not a lock. NASA says undocking depends on the spacecraft, the recovery teams, and the weather in the Pacific off California.
My take
This is the normal end of a crew swap, and it is on track. The only real variable is weather at the splashdown site, and NASA has already moved the time once. The 6:20 a.m. hatch close Wednesday is the first real sign it is a go.
So basically — pass it on.