It was time for NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to return to Earth after spending 62 days aboard the International Space Station — this mission was accomplished via the successful launch of the SpaceX Demo-2 Crew Dragon using the Falcon-9 rocket.
SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule successfully splashed down at the Gulf of Mexico yesterday — NASA shared the following footage of the splashdown which was recorded from NASA’s WB-57 airplane, this is the first US astronauts splashdown in the last 45 years.
Astronauts Bob and Doug reached Earth in less than 24 hours after leaving the International Space Station, as we can see in the above video the droves and the four parachutes deployed on time to slow down the downward speed of the Dragon capsule from almost 400 mph to 16 mph at 1 km altitude.
The moments where the Dragon is pulled on to the Go Navigator recovery vessel through a hydraulic lift are no less breathtaking than the splashdown, it must have been a sigh of relief for Bob and Doug landing safely after experiencing 3.5Gs during the fall.
To anybody who has touched Endeavour, you should take a moment to just cherish this day.
Touching words by Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken as they come out of the Crew Dragon capsule.
Bob and Doug expressed great joy when talking to the media after reaching the Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas, they think it is a great achievement that after so many years America is again capable of launching and bringing the astronauts back home — this has been made possible by the tireless efforts of NASA and SpaceX teams who have invested 5 years of hard work in this project.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk also expressed his feelings on the successful completion of this mission, he said:
I am not very religious, but I prayed for this one. You know, I think this is something that the whole world can take some pleasure in and can really look at this as an achievement of humanity.
These are difficult times when you know there’s not much good news and I think this is one of those things that is universally good.
No matter where you are on planet Earth, this is a good thing and I hope it brightens your day.
Thank You.
Elon Musk at the Johnson Space Center
As the world knows Elon Musk has bigger plans when it comes to space journeys for humanity even aside from the Mars mission, he aims to bring space travel to the masses in the same way air travel is commonized in today’s world — he tweeted at this historic moment:
