SpaceX-NASA Astronauts splashed down into the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday aboard the Crew Dragon capsule, nearly six months after they arrived at the orbital laboratory, finishing the first long-term operation under the supervision of NASA's program.
The astronauts, including Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and Soichi Noguchi boarded the capsule and set off from the space station on Saturday to begin the 6-hour journey home.
NASA said the crew fell off the coast of Panama City, Florida on Sunday, marking the first night landing of a since December 1968, when Apollo 8 landed in the Pacific Ocean.
The Crew Dragon night landing was seen in the Gulf of Mexico via live infrared cameras. A couple of "speedboats" that first respond toward the space capsule moments after its fall raced to ensure the Crew Dragon's parachutes detached upon hitting the water.
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A SpaceX rescue ship arrived shortly after to raise the Crew Dragon on a platform using a crane, and as planned they did not pull the capsule upside down in the water.
The crew-1 astronauts launched into space from Florida last November, logging nearly 167 days aboard the space station, which is a science laboratory that orbits Earth 250 miles above the surface of the Earth. Their return was initially scheduled for Wednesday, April 28, but has been postponed due to high winds in the water-scattered area.
This Crew Dragon spacecraft was the second SpaceX capsule to fly humans, after SpaceX's first manned mission "Demo-2" in May 2020. It broke the record for the longest-serving US spacecraft to dock on the International Space Station, exceeding the 84 days recorded by 1974 Skylab 4 crew.
https://twitter.com/AstroVicGlover/status/1388214251253239808?s=20
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