Level 1 - Absolute Beginner
Four space travelers are home. They came back to Earth on Thursday, October 8. Their capsule landed in the Pacific Ocean near California.
The capsule is called Freedom. It splashed down at 11:34 in the morning, Eastern time. A ship picked it up.
The crew lived on the International Space Station for almost eight months. They did four spacewalks.
The crew is Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot and Andrey Fedyaev. A new crew is now on the station.
- space
- The place far above Earth.
- capsule
- A small spacecraft that carries people.
- splash down
- To land in water.
- ocean
- A very large sea.
- crew
- A team that works together.
- spacewalk
- Work outside a spacecraft.
- station
- A place where people live and work.
- ship
- A big boat.
Level 2 - Elementary
NASA's SpaceX Crew-12 astronauts returned to Earth on Thursday, October 8, after almost eight months in orbit. Their Dragon capsule, named Freedom, splashed down off the coast of California at 11:34 a.m. Eastern time.
The crew was NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. NASA counts about 237 days since launch, most of them on the International Space Station.
During the mission the four people did research, kept the station running and carried out four spacewalks. The recovery ship Shannon lifted the capsule from the water, and the crew had a first medical check before flying to Houston.
Meir has now spent 440 days in space in total, one of the highest totals among NASA astronauts. Adenot's flight was her first. A new team, Crew-13, arrived at the station on October 1.
- orbit
- The path around a planet.
- astronaut
- A person trained to travel in space.
- cosmonaut
- A Russian or Soviet space traveler.
- research
- Careful study to learn new facts.
- recovery
- Getting something back.
- medical check
- A test to see if a person is healthy.
- total
- All of something added together.
- arrive
- To reach a place.
Level 3 - Intermediate
After nearly eight months in orbit, the four members of NASA's SpaceX Crew-12 mission returned to Earth on Thursday, October 8. Their Dragon capsule, Freedom, splashed down in the Pacific off the coast of California at 11:34 a.m. Eastern time, 8:34 a.m. Pacific.
On board were NASA's Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, the European Space Agency's Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. NASA counts about 237 days from launch to landing, around 235 of them aboard the International Space Station, where the crew carried out experiments, maintained the lab and made four spacewalks.
The recovery ship Shannon hoisted the capsule from the water, and the astronauts were helped out and given initial medical evaluations before the flight to Houston. For Meir the return lifts her career total to 440 days in space, a place in NASA's top ten for cumulative time. For Adenot it ended her first spaceflight.
The handover had already happened. Crew-13 reached the station on October 1, so the orbiting laboratory has stayed continuously staffed.
- cumulative
- Increasing by successive additions.
- hoisted
- Lifted with a rope or crane.
- evaluation
- A careful check of someone's condition.
- handover
- The passing of duties to another team.
- continuously
- Without a break.
- staffed
- Having people to do the work.
- maintain
- To keep in good working order.
- experiment
- A scientific test.
Level 4 - Advanced
Roughly eight months after leaving Earth, the four members of NASA's SpaceX Crew-12 mission came back the way every Dragon crew does: through fire, under parachutes and into the sea. Their capsule, Freedom, settled into the Pacific off the California coast at 11:34 a.m. Eastern time on Thursday, October 8.
The expedition tallied about 237 days from launch to landing, around 235 of them on the International Space Station, and took in four spacewalks, a punishing schedule of experiments and the unglamorous upkeep that keeps an orbiting laboratory alive. Aboard were NASA's Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, the European Space Agency's Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.
The recovery ship Shannon raised the capsule, the crew were helped out for first medical evaluations, and a flight to Houston followed for the long business of readapting to gravity. The return pushes Meir's career total to 440 days in space, a top-ten figure among NASA astronauts, and closes Adenot's first, record-minded flight.
There was no gap in the station's occupancy. Crew-13 had arrived on October 1, a handover choreographed so that the outpost, continuously inhabited for a generation, remains in human hands.
- expedition
- A journey made for a particular purpose.
- tallied
- Counted up.
- unglamorous
- Lacking excitement or prestige.
- upkeep
- The work of keeping something in good condition.
- readapting
- Getting used to a condition again.
- occupancy
- The state of being lived in.
- choreographed
- Planned in detail so that actions fit together.
- outpost
- A remote station or settlement.
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