周四，一艘载有四名宇航员的SpaceX太空舱从太空返回，在加利福尼亚州海岸附近溅落，标志着该乘组在国际空间站的任务圆满结束。
A SpaceX capsule carrying four astronauts returned from space and splashed down off the coast of California on Thursday, capping the crew’s mission to the International Space Station.
该乘组属于名为“Crew-12”的任务，自2月发射以来，他们一直居住在国际空间站并开展工作。此次返回所使用的正是同一艘SpaceX“龙”飞船。
The crew, part of a mission called Crew-12, had been living and working on the ISS since February, after launching to space in the same SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that brought them home.
宇航员们于周三与国际空间站脱离，用了一天多的时间逐渐靠近地球，随后穿越大气层，在降落伞的辅助下于太平洋着陆。
The astronauts undocked from the ISS on Wednesday and spent a little over a day moving closer to Earth, before plunging through the atmosphere and landing in the Pacific Ocean under parachutes.
Crew-12乘组包括美国国家航空航天局（NASA）的宇航员杰西卡·梅尔和杰克·哈撒韦、欧洲空间局的法国宇航员索菲·阿代诺特，以及俄罗斯宇航员安德烈·费佳耶夫。
On board Crew-12 are NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, French astronaut Sophie Adenot of the European Space Agency, and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.
在NASA的直播中，梅尔说道：“感谢SpaceX，感谢NASA。在国际空间站与所有同事和朋友们共同完成了一次不可思议的任务后，我们非常激动能重返地球。” Crew-12是NASA与SpaceX合作执行的一系列任务中的最新一次，旨在确保国际空间站持续有人驻守并正常运行。
“Thank you, SpaceX. Thank you, NASA,” Meir could be heard saying on the agency’s livestream. “We are so excited to be back on Earth after an incredible mission on the International Space Station with all of our colleagues and friends.”Crew-12 was the latest in a series of missions that NASA conducts with SpaceX to keep the ISS staffed and operating.
在轨期间，宇航员们开展了多项实验，旨在分析太空环境对他们健康的影响。此外，他们还首次与“阿耳忒弥斯2号”任务的宇航员进行了通话，当时后者已于4月绕月飞行。
During their time in orbit, the astronauts performed a variety of experiments aimed at analyzing how space impacts their health. The crew also performed a first-of-its-kind call with the astronauts of the Artemis II mission after they had swung around the moon in April.
Crew-12乘组返回前约一周，国际空间站迎来了由四名宇航员组成的新乘组Crew-13。该乘组于周四搭乘另一艘SpaceX“龙”飞船发射，并与空间站对接。在返回前，Crew-12的宇航员们用最后几天时间帮助新乘组熟悉空间站。
Crew-12 came home roughly a week after welcoming a new crew of four astronauts on board the ISS, Crew-13, which launched and docked with the station on Thursday in a separate SpaceX Dragon capsule. The Crew-12 astronauts spent the last few days helping the incoming crew familiarize themselves with the station before returning home.
此次乘组轮换之际，围绕SpaceX“龙”太空舱未来的问题也引发了广泛讨论。NASA已与SpaceX签订合同，计划通过“龙”飞船再执行至少四次国际空间站乘组轮换任务，直至该空间站项目于2030年按计划结束。
The crew exchange comes as questions swirl about the future of SpaceX’s Dragon capsule. NASA has contracted with SpaceX to perform at least four more crew rotation missions with Dragon to the ISS through the planned end of the space station program by 2030.
然而，美国国家航空航天局（NASA）已承认，SpaceX 计划最终退役该运载火箭，将公司全部精力投入到使其巨型“星舰”火箭投入运行上。
However, NASA has acknowledged that SpaceX plans to eventually retire the vehicle in favor of putting all of the company’s efforts into making its massive Starship rocket operational.