Space to Ground: All Aboard: Sept. 15, 2023

NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg and UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi discussed their six-month science mission aboard the International Space Station during a news conference on Tuesday, Sept. 12, at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Fellow crew member Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev was unable to participate in the news conference due to travel. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 returned to Earth aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft splashing down at 12:17 a.m., Sept. 4, off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, and flew back to Houston shortly afterward. The four crewmates traveled 78,875,292 statute miles during 2,976 orbits around the Earth and spent approximately 186 days in orbit. It was the first spaceflight for Hoburg, Alneyadi, and Fedyaev, and the fourth for Bowen.

During the mission, Bowen and Hoburg completed two spacewalks, and Alneyadi became the first UAE astronaut to conduct a spacewalk. With 10 spacewalks throughout his missions, Bowen ties the record for most spacewalks by a U.S. astronaut, also held by four others. He ranks third on the all-time list for cumulative hours of spacewalking. While aboard the station, Crew-6 contributed to hundreds of experiments and technology demonstrations, including conducting a student robotic challenge, studying plant genetic adaptations to space, and monitoring human health in microgravity to prepare for exploration beyond low Earth orbit and to benefit life on Earth. Crew-6 spent about a week with the newly arrived crew of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission that docked to the station Aug. 27, handing over ongoing tasks, and introducing two first-time explorers to the orbital outpost. Both missions are part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.