NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara, in company with Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and Belarus spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya, safely returned to Earth following a prolific six-month research expedition aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday.
Their journey back commenced aboard the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft at 11:54 p.m. EDT on April 5, culminating in a secure, parachute-assisted landing at 3:17 a.m. on April 6 (12:17 p.m. Kazakhstan time) southeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan.
O’Hara embarked on her space voyage on September 15, 2023, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, who continue their tenure aboard the ISS for an extended one-year mission. Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya, on the other hand, commenced their journey aboard Soyuz MS-25 on March 23, alongside NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson, who remains aboard the orbiting laboratory until the autumn season.
During her inaugural spaceflight, O’Hara amassed a total of 204 days in space. Novitskiy, a seasoned spacefarer, has accumulated 545 days across four spaceflights, while Vasilevskaya completed her first spaceflight, totaling 14 days in space.
Aligned with NASA’s ambitious Artemis campaign, O’Hara’s mission contributed to lunar exploration preparations and laid groundwork for future manned expeditions to Mars. Over the course of her mission, O’Hara completed approximately 3,264 orbits of the Earth, covering a staggering distance of more than 86.5 million miles. Her tenure aboard the ISS was marked by extensive scientific endeavors, encompassing research into heart health, cancer treatments, and space manufacturing techniques.
Following thorough post-landing medical evaluations, the crew will proceed to the recovery staging city in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Subsequently, O’Hara will board a NASA aircraft bound for Johnson Space Center in Houston, marking the conclusion of her mission.
With the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft’s undocking, Expedition 71 formally commences aboard the ISS. Comprising NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Matthew Dominick, Tracy C. Dyson, and Jeannette Epps, alongside Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin, and Oleg Kononenko, Expedition 71 members are slated to continue their mission on the orbiting laboratory until the forthcoming autumn season.
