Four astronauts are back on Earth after a four-day mission orbiting the globe. The crew splashed down in a SpaceX capsule off the coast of Oceanside.
After a four-day flight around Earth's poles, four private citizens aboard a SpaceX rocket returned Friday with a splashdown off the coast of Oceanside.
The Fram2 mission was the first Dragon rocket spaceflight with human passengers to return to the Pacific Ocean, according to the agency.
"This is an entirely new landing location for Dragon. This is the first time a Dragon crew will be recovered on the west coast," SpaceX said.
After Dragon reenters Earth's atmosphere, it will splash down off the southern coast of California near Oceanside at ~9:19 a.m. PT pic.twitter.com/fOXvpUMXVG
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 4, 2025
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Splashdown happened at about 9:19 a.m. PT. SpaceX is hosting a live stream on X. SpaceX warned it was possible the rocket's re-entry could create a sonic boom, and many around San Diego reported hearing a loud boom around 9:15 a.m.
The Fram2 mission was likely the first of many to return off the California coast as SpaceX moves spaceflight return operations back to the west.
Dragon launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday. During the short mission, the Dragon crew conducted research studies to advance humanity's ability for long-duration space flight, SpaceX said.
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Bitcoin investor Chun Wang chartered the SpaceX flight for himself and three others in a Dragon capsule that was outfitted with a domed window that provided 360-degree views of the polar caps and everything in between. Wang declined to say how much he paid for the 3 1/2-day trip.
The Chinese-born Wang, now a citizen of Malta, invited Norwegian filmmaker Jannicke Mikkelsen, German robotics researcher Rabea Rogge and Australian polar guide Eric Philips, all of whom shared stunning vistas during their voyage.
“It is so epic because it is another kind of desert, so it just goes on and on and on all the way,” Rogge said in a video posted by Wang on X while gazing down from orbit.
Splashdown of Dragon and the @framonauts confirmed – welcome back to Earth @satofishi, @astro_jannicke, @rprogge, and @Icetrek! pic.twitter.com/nkWzqenf9Q
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 4, 2025
Mikkelsen packed the capsule with camera equipment and spent much of her time behind the lens.
All four suffered from space motion sickness after reaching orbit, according to Wang. But by the time they woke up on day two, they felt fine and cranked open the window cover right above the South Pole, he said via X.
Besides documenting the poles from 270 miles up, Wang and his crew took the first medical X-rays in space as part of a test and conducted two dozen other science experiments. They named their trip Fram2 after the Norwegian sailing ship that carried explorers to the poles more than a century ago. A bit of the original ship’s wooden deck accompanied the crew to space.
SpaceX said its decision to switch splashdown sites from Florida beginning with this flight was based on safety. The company said Pacific splashdowns will ensure that any surviving pieces of the trunk — jettisoned near flight’s end — falls into the ocean.
The last people to return from space to the Pacific were the three NASA astronauts assigned to the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission.
