crew_4_new.jpg The SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts pose for a portrait in their pressure suits before boarding the Dragon Freedom crew ship, undocking from the International Space Station, and returning to Earth completing a 170-day space research mission. From left are Mission Specialist Jessica Watkins, Pilot Bob Hines, Commander Kjell Lindgren (all three NASA astronauts), and Mission Specialist Samantha Cristoforetti from ESA (European Space Agency). Credits: NASA

Astronauts of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission, consisting of crew members from the agency as well as ESA (European Space Agency), will answer questions about their recent mission aboard the International Space Station during a news conference at 10 a.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 20.

The event will air live on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website. Watch online at:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, and Jessica Watkins, as well as ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, will participate in this first media event following their return to Earth. The Crew-4 astronauts also will participate in a Twitter question-and-answer session on the NASA Johnson Twitter account at 11:10 a.m., following the news conference.

Reporters who wish to participate must RSVP to the newsroom at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston at: jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov or 281-483-5111 no later than 9 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 20, to receive dial-in information. To ask questions, reporters must dial into the news conference no later than 9:50 a.m. Those following the briefing on social media may ask questions using #AskNASA.

Hines, Lindgren, Watkins, and Cristoforetti returned to Earth in a parachute-assisted splashdown in SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft Freedom at 4:55 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14, off the coast of Florida. After returning to shore, the astronauts flew back to Houston, where they were greeted by their families and colleagues.

Crew-4 astronauts traveled 72,168,935 miles during their 170 days aboard the space station. They completed 2,720 orbits around Earth.

During their science expedition aboard the orbiting laboratory, the Crew-4 astronauts continued work on investigations documenting how improvements to the space diet affect immune function and the gut microbiome, determining the effect of fuel temperature on the flammability of a material, exploring possible adverse effects on astronaut hearing from equipment noise and microgravity, and studying whether additives increase or decrease the stability of emulsions. The astronauts also investigated microgravity-induced changes in the human immune system similar to aging, tested a novel water-reclamation membrane, and examined a concrete alternative made with a material found in lunar and Martian dust.

The Crew-4 flight was part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and its return to Earth followed on the heels of the launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission, which docked to the station Oct. 6 to begin another science expedition.

Learn more about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program at:

https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

-end-

Press Contacts

Joshua Finch
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov

Dan Huot / Chelsey Ballarte
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
daniel.g.huot@nasa.gov / chelsey.n.ballarte@nasa.gov

NASA news releases and other information are available automatically by sending an e-mail to hqnews-join@newsletters.nasa.gov (no subject or text in the body is required).

To unsubscribe from the list, send an e-mail message to hqnews-leave@newsletters.nasa.gov (no subject or text in the body is required).