(AGENPARL) – lun 04 settembre 2023 September 03, 2023 
RELEASE 23-097
*NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 Safely Returns to Earth Near Florida Coast*
Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, left, NASA astronaut Warren “Woody”
Hoburg, second from left, NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, second from right,
and UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, right, are seen
inside the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery
ship MEGAN shortly after having landed in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of
Jacksonville, Florida, Monday, Sept. 4, 2023. Bowen, Hoburg, Alneyadi, and
Fedyaev are returning after nearly six-months in space as part of Expedition
69 aboard the International Space Station.
*/Credits: NASA/Joel Kowsky
After splashing down safely in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft off the coast of
Jacksonville, Florida early Monday morning, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 completed
the agency’s sixth [1]?commercial crew rotation mission to the
International Space Station. The international crew of four spent 186 days in
orbit.
NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen  [2]and Woody Hoburg [3], as well as UAE
(United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi and Roscosmos cosmonaut
Andrey Fedyaev,?returned to Earth at 12:17 a.m. EDT. Teams aboard SpaceX
recovery vessels retrieved the spacecraft and its crew. After returning to
shore, the crew will fly to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
“After spending six months aboard the International Space Station,
logging nearly 79 million miles during their mission, and completing
hundreds of scientific experiments for the benefit of all humanity, NASA’s
SpaceX Crew-6 has returned home to planet Earth,” said Administrator Bill
Nelson. “This international crew represented three nations, but together
they demonstrated humanity’s shared ambition to reach new cosmic shores.
The contributions of Crew-6 will help prepare NASA to return to the Moon
under Artemis, continue onward to Mars, and improve life here on Earth.”
The Crew-6 mission lifted off [4] at 12:34 a.m. EST March 2, 2023, on a
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. About
25 hours later, Dragon docked [5] to the Harmony module’s space-facing
port. On May 6, the crew completed a port relocation maneuver [6] to the
Earth-facing port ahead of the arrival of a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft
carrying new solar arrays, science investigations, and supplies to the
orbiting laboratory. The crew undocked from the space station at 7:05 a.m.
Sunday, to begin the trip home.
Bowen, Hoburg, Alneyadi, and Fedyaev traveled 78,875,292 miles during their
mission, spent 184 days aboard the space station, and completed 2,976 orbits
around Earth. The Crew-6 mission was the first spaceflight for Hoburg,
Alneyadi, and Fedyaev. Bowen has logged 227 days in space over four flights.
Throughout their mission, the Crew-6 members contributed to a host of science
[7]?and maintenance activities and technology demonstrations. Bowen
conducted three spacewalks, joined by Hoburg for two, and Alneyadi for one,
preparing the station for and installing two new IROSAs [8] (International
Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays) to augment power generation for the
station.
The crew contributed to hundreds of experiments and technology
demonstrations, including assisting a student robotic challenge [9], studying
plant genetic adaptations [10] to space, and monitoring human health in
microgravity to prepare for exploration beyond low Earth orbit and to benefit
life on Earth. The astronauts released Saskatchewan’s first satellite [11]
which tests a new radiation detection and protection system [12] derived from
melanin, found in many organisms, including humans.
This was the fourth flight of the Dragon spacecraft, which was named
Endeavour by retired NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on its first
voyage for the agency’s SpaceX Demonstration Mission 2. The spacecraft will
return to Florida for inspection and processing at SpaceX’s refurbishing
facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, where teams will inspect the
spacecraft, analyze data on its performance, and prepare it for its next
flight.
The Crew-6 mission is part of NASA’s?Commercial Crew Program [13], and
its return to Earth follows on the launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7, which
docked to the station Aug. 27, beginning another long-duration science
expedition.
The goal of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is safe, reliable, and
cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station and
low Earth orbit, which maximizes research time and increases opportunities
for discovery aboard humanity’s microgravity laboratory and testbed for
exploration, including helping NASA prepare for human exploration of the Moon
and Mars.
Learn more about NASA’s Commercial Crew program at:
*https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew* [14]
-end-
*Press Contacts*
Joshua Finch / Lora Bleacher
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100 
Steve Siceloff
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-867-2468
Leah Cheshier
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
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[1] https://www.nasa.gov/feature/what-you-need-to-know-about-nasa-s-spacex-crew-6-mission/#:~:text=Crew%2D6%20will%20spend%20up,and%20Axiom%20Mission%2D1%20astronauts.
[2] https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/stephen-g-bowen
[3] https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/warren-hoburg
[4] https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2023/03/02/liftoff-crew-6-lights-up-the-florida-early-morning-sky/
[5] https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2023/03/03/spacex-crew-6-mission-docks-to-stations-harmony-module/
[7] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/crew-5-scientific-mission-on-iss
[8] https://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-solar-arrays-to-power-nasa-s-international-space-station-research
[9] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7856
[10] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8336
[11] https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/HWHAP/from-saskatchewan-to-space
[12] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8256
[13] https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html
[14] https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew