Nasa astronauts make historic splashdown after return to Earth on SpaceX’s ‘Endeavour’ capsule
- Successful homecoming of Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley is US space agency’s first such landing in 45 years
- Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX was first private company to send humans to orbit
US astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, who flew to the International Space Station in SpaceX’s new Crew Dragon, splashed down in the capsule in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday after a two-month voyage that was Nasa’s first crewed mission from home soil in nine years.
Behnken and Hurley undocked from the station on Saturday and returned home to land in calm waters off Florida’s Pensacola coast on schedule at 2.48pm following a 21-hour overnight journey aboard Crew Dragon “Endeavour”.
The successful splashdown, the first of its kind by Nasa in 45 years, was a final key test of whether Elon Musk’s spacecraft can transport astronauts to and from orbit – a feat no private company has accomplished before.
Spectators in private boats surrounded the splashdown site dozens of kilometres from shore as SpaceX and Nasa recovery teams used a crane to hoist the spacecraft out of the water and onto a boat.
“Thanks for doing the most difficult parts and the most important parts of human space flight – getting us into orbit and bringing us home,” Behnken told SpaceX mission control in Hawthorne, California, as the hatch door was opened.
“I’m just proud to be a small part of this whole effort to get a company and people to and from the space station,” Hurley said, giving a thumbs up as he was wheeled out of the spacecraft on a stretcher – a normal procedure as astronauts adjust to Earth’s gravity.
For the return sequence, on-board thrusters and two sets of parachutes worked autonomously to slow the acorn-shaped capsule, bringing Behnken and Hurley’s speed of 17,500mph (28,000km/h) in orbit down to 350mph upon atmospheric re-entry, and eventually 15mph at splashdown.
During re-entry to Earth’s atmosphere, the capsule’s outer shell withstood temperatures as high as 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,900 Celsius) while Behnken and Hurley, wearing SpaceX’s white flight suits strapped inside the cabin, experienced 85 Fahrenheit.
The pair were due to undergo medical checks onshore in Pensacola ahead of a flight to Nasa’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas.
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The landmark mission, launched from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre on May 31, marked the first time the US space agency launched humans from American soil since its shuttle programme retired in 2011. Since then the United States has relied on Russia’s space programme to launch its astronauts to the space station.
Behnken and Hurley undocked from the space station late on Saturday and began gradually decreasing their orbital altitude overnight, awaking on Sunday morning to recorded wake-up calls from their sons.
“Good morning Dragon Endeavour,” Hurley’s son said in a recorded message sent to the capsule. “I’m happy you went into space but I’m even happier that you’re coming back home.”
Nasa officials have said Crew Dragon, a pod with seven astronaut seats, was in a “very healthy” condition while docked at the space station, where astronauts conducted tests and monitored how the spacecraft performs in space.
Nasa, aiming to galvanise a commercial space marketplace, awarded nearly US$8 billion to SpaceX and Boeing collectively in 2014 to develop duelling space capsules, experimenting with a contract model that allows the space agency to buy astronaut seats from the two companies.
“Great to have Nasa Astronauts return to Earth after very successful two month mission,” US President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter. “Thank you to all!”
