SpaceX capsule splashes down, returning 4 astronauts from Space Station

FILE PHOTO: NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Robert Hines, and Jessica Watkins, and European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti of Italy pose for a picture ahead of their scheduled launch on the Crew Dragon spacecraft to begin a six-month expedition on the International Space Station, at Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. April 18, 2022. REUTERS/Joe Skipper

(Reuters) - The fourth long-duration astronaut team launched by SpaceX to the International Space Station (ISS) safely returned to Earth on Friday, splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean off Florida after nearly six months of research aboard the orbital outpost.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule dubbed Freedom, carrying three U.S. NASA astronauts and an Italian crewmate from the European Space Agency, parachuted into the sea at the conclusion of a five-hour autonomous flight home from the ISS.