SpaceX Successfully Returns Two NASA Astronauts Back to Earth
Two NASA astronauts returned to Earth on Sunday in a dramatic, retro-style splashdown!
This is pretty cool, NASA astronauts, Robert (Bob) Behnken and Douglas Hurley, the first astronauts to travel into orbit aboard a commercially developed spacecraft, returned home in a splashdown mission yesterday, which was the first such mission in America since 1975 (45 years!).
“Welcome back to planet Earth.”
NASA-SpaceX astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico after months aboard the International Space Station, marking the first splashdown of an American crew spacecraft in 45 years. https://t.co/s558Za9mrI pic.twitter.com/X7ymmaRRcB
— ABC News (@ABC) August 3, 2020
Their capsule parachuting into the Gulf of Mexico closed out an unprecedented test flight by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The successful return clears the way for another SpaceX crew launch as early as next month and possible tourist flights next year.
Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken rode the SpaceX Dragon capsule back to Earth less than a day after departing the International Space Station and two months after blasting off from Florida.
“Welcome back to planet Earth and thanks for flying SpaceX,” the company’s Mission Control said. A SpaceX recovery ship with more than 40 staff, including doctors and nurses, moved in following splashdown.
We’ve had a lot of space recently with the recent launch of NASA’s Perseverance rover to Mars!
