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क्रू-8 मिशन के अंतरिक्ष यात्री ISS से निकले वापस, पृथ्वी पर पहुंचेंगे कल

Crew-8 astronauts depart ISS, set to splash down on Earth tomorrow

Veteran NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and three Russian cosmonauts undocked their Soyuz spacecraft from the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, beginning their journey back to Earth.

The trio, which also includes Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitry Petelin, and Anna Kikina, is scheduled to splash down in Kazakhstan on Friday, March 24th.

The Crew-8 astronauts have spent the past six months on the ISS, conducting scientific research and maintenance work. During their mission, they also welcomed the arrival of the Crew-5 astronauts in October 2022 and the departure of the Crew-4 astronauts in October 2023.

The Crew-8 astronauts' departure marks the end of a successful mission for NASA and Roscosmos, the Russian space agency. The mission was the first to include a Russian cosmonaut, Anna Kikina, since 2015.

The return of the Crew-8 astronauts will also mark the end of a busy period for the ISS. In the past few months, the station has also hosted the SpaceX Crew-5 and Crew-6 missions, as well as the Axiom Space Ax-1 and Ax-2 missions.

With the Crew-8 astronauts' departure, the ISS will be left with a crew of seven: NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Russian cosmonauts Andrey Fedyaev and Denis Matveev, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata.

The Crew-9 astronauts are scheduled to launch to the ISS on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft in April 2023. The mission will include NASA astronauts Kathleen Rubins and Scott Tingle, Russian cosmonaut Sergey Korsakov, and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet.