NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than 8:05 a.m. EDT on October 7 for Crew-12 to undock from the International Space Station, setting up a planned splashdown off California at about 11:34 a.m. EDT on October 8.
Those times are targets, not guarantees. NASA’s October 5 advisory says the return depends on spacecraft readiness, recovery-team readiness, weather in the Pacific and other real-time operational factors.
Four crew members are preparing to come home
Crew-12 consists of NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.
Meir is the Dragon commander and Hathaway the pilot, with Adenot and Fedyaev serving as mission specialists. NASA’s station update says the quartet has been aboard the orbital outpost since February 14 and is packing for departure as the newly arrived Crew-13 settles into Expedition 75.
If the current schedule holds, NASA plans hatch-closure coverage from 6 a.m. EDT on October 7, with hatch closing targeted for 6:20 a.m. Undocking coverage is scheduled to begin at 7:45 a.m., ahead of the 8:05 a.m. departure.
Dragon would then spend a little over a day away from the station before the return sequence on October 8. NASA lists return coverage from 10:20 a.m., a deorbit burn at 10:46 a.m. and splashdown at approximately 11:34 a.m.
The timing has already moved
The caution around those times is not boilerplate. An earlier October 3 NASA update had targeted a 1:05 a.m. EDT October 7 undocking and an approximately 11:25 a.m. October 8 splashdown.
By October 5, after continued planning around weather and recovery conditions, NASA’s published target had shifted to 8:05 a.m. for undocking and 11:34 a.m. for splashdown.
That is exactly why the agency continues to use “no earlier than” language. A crew return has to line up the spacecraft, recovery forces and acceptable conditions at the selected splashdown area.
Crew-12 closes an eight-month research mission
NASA describes Crew-12 as an approximately eight-month station mission. Its research programme included work on pneumonia-causing bacteria, intravenous-fluid production for future missions, plant health monitoring, blood-flow changes during spaceflight and other experiments intended to support both exploration and Earth-based research.
Crew-13 arrived at the station on October 1, allowing the handover into Expedition 75 before Crew-12’s departure.
The next milestone is therefore simple but conditional: undock on October 7 if conditions remain acceptable, spend the following day in Dragon, then splash down off California on October 8.
Until Dragon actually leaves the station, those are still planned events. NASA says it will continue monitoring the recovery area and adjust the timeline if weather, vehicle readiness or mission operations require it.
The handover also leaves seven people aboard the station after Crew-12 departs. NASA’s October 5 station update describes the overlap as a normal crew-swap period, with both Dragon spacecraft temporarily docked to the Harmony module while the incoming crew unpacked and the departing crew prepared equipment for the trip home.
For anyone following the return live, NASA says coverage will be available through its online live platforms. The published schedule is in Eastern Daylight Time, and every listed event remains subject to change as flight controllers work through the actual departure and recovery conditions.
Reporting notes