NASA astronauts return to Earth from ISS after five months
US astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan's Takuya Onishi, and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov are set to splash down off California's coast in the Pacific Ocean at 3.33 p.m. UTC/GMT on Saturday.
The crew's return wraps up NASA's 10th commercial crew rotation.
According to the space agency, the four astronauts conducted more than 200 "important and time-sensitive research" experiments over 146 days, including studies on plant growth and cell behavior in microgravity.
Crew-10 replaced stranded astronauts
The Crew-10 mission was launched on March 14, replacing Crew-9, whose members included Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams.
Wilmore and Williams were stranded for nine months aboard the ISS after their Boeing Starliner capsule developed propulsion issues.
Eventually, a SpaceX capsule owned by billionaire Elon Musk brought the stranded astronauts home.
Wilmore retired this week after 25 years with NASA, the space agency announced.
Last week, US astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan's Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov boarded the ISS for a six-month mission.
Edited by Sean Sinico

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Digital Trends
an hour ago
- Digital Trends
If you have to watch one Disney+ movie this August 2025, stream this one
Pixar is not what it used to be. The animation studio was once an absolute powerhouse with both critics and at the box office, but more recently, its track record has been more checkered. This makes it the perfect time to watch Wall-E. The movie, which became a phenomenon after its release in 2008, remains as sadly relevant as ever and might just be the pinnacle of what Pixar is capable of as a studio. The amazing movie follows an abandoned robot that collects trash on Earth. Here are three reasons to check it out. Recommended Videos We also have guides to the best new movies to stream, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on HBO Max, and the best movies on Disney+. It features some of Pixar's best animation Although Wall-E is almost 20 years old, it still features some of Pixar's best animation. While CG animation has become the dominant form, it doesn't always age all that well as the technology continues to advance. Wall-E is something of an exception to that rule, in part because so few of the things that it animates are familiar to us. Even all these years later, Wall-E is still a remarkably beautiful movie and one that wouldn't feel out of place in today's animation landscape. The first 30 minutes are a remarkable achievement Perhaps the most impressive thing about Wall-E is its opening 30 minutes, an almost wordless section of the film in which we meet the titular robot and watch him go about his normal routine. Because this movie is primarily about robots that can only say one phrase, it's remarkably light on dialogue for a movie that's ostensibly aimed at children. It's entirely possible to watch these robots without even noticing that there's no dialogue in them. They're gripping enough to work without ever feeling like a gimmick in the slightest. It's ultimately a hopeful movie One of the fascinating things about Wall-E is that, more than 15 years after its release, everything the movie is about feels more relevant than ever. This is a movie in which humanity has abandoned Earth because of a climate catastrophe and, in the process, turned basically everything about their lives over to machines. The movie's final moments, however, are about humanity reasserting control over its own destiny and realizing that it cannot allow itself to become totally controlled by machines or anything else. Wall-E is a reminder that we are never too far gone to rebuild, and the first step is always just to try. You can watch Wall-E on Disney+.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
NASA Curiosity rover discovers coral-like flower-shaped rocks on Mars
NASA's Curiosity Rover has taken images of coral-like and flower-shaped rocks on Mars, which have been estimated to be billions of years old. On July 24, the rover sent images of a wind-eroded rock about one inch wide, resembling a piece of a coral reef. NASA has said that the rover has taken many images of rocks of this type. The space agency noted that when liquid water still existed on the planet, it carried dissolved minerals into the cracks of rocks. When the liquid dried, it deposited hardened minerals. 'This common process, seen extensively on Earth, has produced fantastic shapes on Mars, including a flower-shaped rock,' the agency said in a statement. NASA noted that the 'unique shapes' seen today came to be after billions of years of sandblasting. A uniquely shaped rock nicknamed 'Paposo' was also found on July 24. Similarly, another rock shaped like a flower was discovered in 2022. According to NASA, the flower rock is believed to have formed as mineralizing liquids went through conduits in the rock. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory built the rover, which is leading its Mars mission. After travelling for eight months and 352 million miles, the rover landed on Mars in 2012. NASA noted that it was the largest and most capable rover ever sent to Mars at the time. The rover has explored as much as 22 miles of the planet and previously found chemical and mineral evidence of previous habitable environments. According to NASA, the rover is continuing to gather samples and data from a time when Mars may have hosted microbial life. The one-inch rock was found in the Gale Crater, an impact basin. In June, Curiosity took images of a geological structure called 'spiderwebs' because of its pattern of ridges, also indicating that Mars previously had water that has since hardened. 'The images and data being collected are already raising new questions about how the Martian surface was changing billions of years ago,' NASA said in a June statement. 'The Red Planet once had rivers, lakes, and possibly an ocean. Although scientists aren't sure why, its water eventually dried up and the planet transformed into the chilly desert it is today,' the agency added. 'Remarkably, the boxwork patterns show that even in the midst of this drying, water was still present underground, creating changes seen today.' 'Eons of sandblasting by Martian wind wore away the rock but not the minerals, revealing networks of resistant ridges within,' said the agency. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Does Being a "Boy Mom" Shorten Your Life?
The research behind whether parents of boys actually have shorter lifespans, worse health, and age faster Most of the content for parents of sons on social media seems to be very negative, especially the content for 'boy moms.' As a mother to two boys myself, I find some of this content sweet and relatable, but a lot of it is, frankly, obnoxious and verging on toxic. Recently I have seen posts circulating on social media claiming that boy moms don't live as long and age faster than girl moms. My initial response to these posts was annoyance at yet another negative message being spread about being a parent to boys. However, when I dug into the research, I was surprised to find that there may be some truth to this claim— but it's more complicated than you may think. Main Research Findings Research consistently finds that having sons is linked to a shorter lifespan and worse health in mothers. One study found that a mother's risk of death per year increased by 7% for each son that they had (two sons would mean a 14% increase, 3 sons a 21% increase, etc.). A previous study conducted by the same authors found that, for every son a woman had, their lifespan decreased by 34 weeks while daughters were associated with a slightly increased lifespan (although this was not statistically significant). Interestingly fathers may not experience the same decrease in lifespan. Another study found that mothers reported worse health in old age with each son they had. Specifically, mothers had an 11% increased odds of reporting poor health in old age with each son that they had. Finally, a recent study found that parents of sons (both mothers and fathers) showed faster cognitive decline in old age. Why Might This Be? One theory that researchers have is that sons take more of a toll on a mother's body (aka the expensive son hypothesis). The idea is that pregnancy, birth, and lactation of sons depletes maternal reserves more than daughters do and therefore the mother's health may be negatively impacted. Supporting this idea, research finds that boys require more energy during pregnancy and lactation than girls. Research also finds that having sons may increase inflammation that contributes to degenerative diseases. In particular, research finds that having boys increases the risk for cardiovascular disease in mothers. There may also be social factors at play, in addition to biological factors. For example, grandmothers are more involved in the care of their daughter's children than their son's children and being more involved in child care is linked to better health in old age. Daughters are also more likely than sons to provide care to their elderly parents, so parents of daughters may get better quality care in old age which could result in a longer lifespan and better health in old age. However, there is no research finding that this association is caused by boys being more challenging or stressful than girls, as social media would suggest. Why Parents of Boys Shouldn't Be Too Worried This research is all correlational so we cannot definitively say that having boys actually causes a shorter lifespan and more health problems. It may be that an underlying factor makes a person more likely to have a boy and more likely to have health problems. For example, higher levels of testosterone may make you more likely to have a boy and more likely to have health problems (and of course not all boy moms have higher levels of testosterone). Some Positivity for Parents of Boys As I said at the beginning of this article, I hate the negativity around being a 'boy mom' or a parent of boys more generally. Although I always strive to accurately report the research, I do not want to further this narrative. Of course, on a personal level, I can say that I love so many aspects of being a mother to my boys and even if they do shorten my lifespan, they more than make up for it in all of the joy they bring to my life. But what about the research? Does research find any benefits of being a parent to boys? Unfortunately, the research on this topic is limited but we do have some evidence for positive outcomes associated with having boys. Mothers who only have sons are the most likely to report the highest level of happiness in their marriage and there is some evidence that parents with sons may be less likely to divorce. The birth of a son may also be linked to an easier transition to being parents than the birth of a daughter. A reason for all of this may be that fathers are more involved in caring for sons than daughters. Fathers of sons also make more money than fathers of daughters. Research does find that girls show higher levels of positive emotions, and boys show higher activity levels and lower fear on average. The people who are negative about being a parent to boys may frame these personality traits as burdens or stressors, but an active and brave child can also be a lot of fun! In addition, although pregnancies with boys may be harder on your body, mothers pregnant with boys may show better working memory and spatial skills than mothers pregnant with girls. The myth of morning sickness being worse when pregnant with girls is also true— women pregnant with boys show less severe nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. You may have also heard that sons are more likely to grow distant from their mothers in adulthood but fear not because research finds that unmarried sons are the most likely group to live with their mother in adulthood! Overall Translation There is some evidence that being a parent to boys is linked to a slightly shorter lifespan, an increased risk for health problems, and faster aging. While it is not completely clear why these associations occur, researchers speculate that sons may take more out of the mother during pregnancy and lactation and that sons may have different relationships with their parents in old age. However, the most important point here is that these statistics are based on averages and have no predictive power for your life. This topic is a great example of how research typically only informs us about what is most likely to happen based on averages and not what will happen in your life. Just because the average mother of boys has a shorter lifespan does not mean that you will (or your partner will) die younger and just because daughters are more likely to provide care for elderly parents does not mean that you son won't step up and be an incredible caretaker for you in old age. These stereotypes are not always true and you have a lot of power in deciding the type of relationship you have with your son. Solve the daily Crossword