The four astronauts aboard SpaceX’s Crew-1 Dragon capsule returned safely to Earth on Sunday, landing in the Gulf of Mexico after a record-breaking mission to the International Space Station.
The astronauts spent over five months in space on “Resilience,” the longest-ever time spent for a crew launched in a U.S.-made spacecraft, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The crew traveled 71,242,199 statute miles during their 168 days in orbit, according to NASA data.
NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Shannon Walker, Victor Glover, and Japan’s Soichi Noguchi were launched to the space station via the Dragon capsule after the Falcon 9 rocket took off last November.
SPACEX LAUNCHES ROCKET CARRYING ASTRONAUTS TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
The crew set out from the space station at approximately 8:35 p.m. EDT Saturday and traveled through the atmosphere, landing in the water near Panama City at around 2:57 a.m. EDT on Sunday. They exited the capsule less than an hour after landing, according to CNBC News.
The landing marks the second time NASA and SpaceX have brought astronauts back to Earth on a Crew Dragon spacecraft after the first crewed, non-operational SpaceX flight was launched on May 30 of last year and landed on Aug. 2. Sunday’s splashdown was also the first water landing amid darkness since 1968 when Apollo 8 returned to Earth in the northern Pacific Ocean.
On April 24, the second operational crew mission and third overall crewed orbital SpaceX flight arrived at the ISS carrying four astronauts for the next six-month stay at the station.
For a brief time, the Crew-2 astronauts temporarily raised the total number onboard the ISS to 11. SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has sent 10 astronauts to space in under a year.
When Crew-1 landed on Sunday, SpaceX mission control greeted the astronauts with a humorous tone.
“We welcome you back to planet Earth, and thanks for flying SpaceX. For those of you enrolled in our frequent flyer program, you’ve earned 68 million miles on this voyage,” mission control said.
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This fall, Musk plans to send the first all-civilian crew aboard the Dragon spacecraft on its Inspiration4 mission.
Two other crewed missions, SpaceX Crew-3 and Crew-4, are also planned.
