Astronauts return to Earth in capsule that could soon take civilians into space
A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying four astronauts splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico early yesterday, in Nasa’s first night-time ocean landing since the Apollo 8 Moon mission in 1968.
The crew reported feeling well after almost six months aboard the International Space Station, Nasa said.
Night vision imagery captured by Nasa showed the capsule descending under its parachutes and landing safely off the coast of Panama City after a six-anda-half-hour flight from the ISS.
“We welcome you back to planet Earth and thanks for flying SpaceX,” mission control radioed moments after splashdown.
“For those of you enrolled in our frequent flyer programme, you’ve earned 68 million miles on this voyage.”
“We’ll take those miles,” said spacecraft commander Col Mike Hopkins. “Are they transferable?”
SpaceX replied that the astronauts would have to check with the company’s marketing department.
Within a few minutes, Col Hopkins reported he could see recovery boats approaching.
He was the first to emerge after the hatch was opened, dancing as he set foot on deck.
“On behalf of Crew-1 and our families, we just want to say thank you … It’s amazing what can be accomplished when people come together. Y’all are changing the world. Congratulations. It’s great to be back,” Col Hopkins said.
Nasa astronauts Victor Glover and Shannon Walker and Japan’s Soichi Noguchi were the other three aboard.
They flew to space last November as the crew on the first fully operational mission to the ISS aboard a vehicle made by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which has been chosen by Nasa to transport astronauts into space.
The 167-day mission was the longest for astronauts to be launched from the US. The previous record of 84 days was set by Nasa’s final Skylab station crew in 1974.
After medical checks, the four astronauts were due to be flown by helicopter to Florida to board a plane for Houston and be reunited with their friends and family.
“The reports are all four crew members are in great shape and in great spirits and doing really well,” Nasa chief flight director Holly Ridings said.
“It’s a great day. It’s not very often you get to wake up on the space station and go to sleep in Houston.”
Hiroshi Sasaki, vice president of human spaceflight technology at Japan’s space agency, Jaxa, said the mission “opened a new era for human space flight”.
The replacements for the four returning astronauts – from the US, Japan and France – arrived at the space station last weekend in their own SpaceX capsule for a six-month mission.
The three other crew currently aboard the ISS – one American and two Russians – arrived in a Russian capsule launched from Kazakhstan three weeks ago.
As the SpaceX capsule detached from the space station, Col Hopkins thanked the crew left behind for their hospitality.
“We’ll see you back on Earth,” he said.
SpaceX made history last year when two American astronauts, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, carried out a test flight to the ISS in May and stayed for two months.
It was the first launch to the ISS from US soil since the end of the Space Shuttle programme in 2011, and the first crewed mission run by a private company.
Until then, US astronauts had flown to the ISS on board Russian Soyuz rockets.
SpaceX plans this year to use a modified version of its Crew Dragon capsule fitted with an observation dome to send an all-civilian crew into space for the first time.