Nasa SpaceX crew return: Dragon capsule splashes down

NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken reported a successful splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Fla., completing their return mission to Earth from the International Space Station after about 2 months.

The capsule landed in the ocean just before 3pm EST and was met with applause from the mission control team, which had been live-streaming the command center and final minutes of the capsule’s descent back to Earth.

 

Behnken and Hurley contributed more than 100 hours to scientific experiments and participated in numerous public engagement events during their 62 days aboard the station. Behnken conducted four spacewalks with Expedition 63 Commander and NASA colleague Chris Cassidy to upgrade two power channels on the station’s truss with new lithium-ion batteries. Overall, the astronaut duo spent 64 days in orbit, completed 1,024 orbits around Earth and traveled 27,147,284 miles.

NASA posted a video of the splash landing on Twitter, which shows the capsule landing in the Gulf of Mexico at an expected 15-16 miles per hour. Someone could be heard saying, “Thanks for flying SpaceX.”

 

"Thanks for flying @SpaceX."

📍 Current Location: Planet Earth

A 2:48pm ET, @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug splashed down, marking the first splashdown of an American crew spacecraft in 45 years. #LaunchAmerica pic.twitter.com/zO3KlNwxU3

— NASA (@NASA) August 2, 2020

During a press conference from space on Friday, Hurley explained that the two of them had been preparing for the splash landing, a physically demanding way to return to Earth that has not happened with a NASA-manned capsule since 1975.