Astronauts return to Earth after 200 days

The four astronauts landed on Earth on Monday in the SpaceX craft after completing their mission to the International Space Station that began last spring. Recovery boats picked them up after they parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Fla. The crew included NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Japan’s Akihiko Hoshide, and France’s Thomas Pesquet.

What comes next? The next four-person crew will depart for the space station as early as Wednesday night. They will spend six months there, where they expect to welcome several tourists. They include a Japanese tycoon and his personal assistant scheduled to arrive in December via the Russian Space Agency, and three businessmen who will board a SpaceX flight in February.

Dig deeper: Read John Dawson’s report in Beginnings on SpaceX’s race to set records.