Astronauts splash down off Florida on SpaceX craft

Astronauts splash down off Florida on SpaceX craft

WASHINGTON: A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying four astronauts back to Earth splashed down off Florida early yesterday in NASA’s first nighttime ocean landing in more than 50 years. The crew reported they were feeling well after their arrival back on Earth following a nearly six-month mission aboard the International Space Station, NASA said.

The capsule splashed down at 2.56 am (0656 GMT) in the dark in the Gulf of Mexico off Panama City after a six-and-a-half-hour flight from the ISS, night-vision images relayed by NASA’s WB-57 high-altitude research aircraft showed. Teams aboard the Go Navigator recovery ship retrieved the capsule and hoisted it onto the deck about half an hour later. It was the first nighttime splashdown for NASA since the crew of Apollo 8 arrived in the Pacific Ocean on December 27, 1968. Commander Michael Hopkins was the first to emerge after the hatch was opened, doing a little jig as he set foot on deck, followed shortly after by fellow NASA astronaut Victor Glover.

“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