SpaceX Astronauts Splash Down Off California Coast for the First Time
The New York Times
After years of NASA and private crews returning to Earth near Florida, the company shifted its landing zone to the West Coast for the private Fram2 mission.
Four private astronauts ended a mission in a SpaceX vehicle on Friday by splashing down in waters near Oceanside, Calif.
It was the first time the company had brought people back to Earth in the Pacific Ocean, after six years of its Dragon capsule splashing down off Florida in the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico.
The Fram2 mission had circled the Earth for four days in a north-south orbit. The journey was the first time people have been able to look down directly at the North and South Poles from orbit.
SpaceX moved its operations to the Pacific to eliminate the problem of Dragon debris falling in random parts of Earth. The Pacific is the biggest pool of water on the planet, and the weather along the West Coast of the United States tends to be pretty nice, too, which provides more days favorable for the return of astronauts.
The first SpaceX astronaut mission, a test flight in May 2020 with Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken of NASA aboard, launched to the International Space Station. Just over two months later, they returned to Earth, splashing down in the Gulf waters off Pensacola, Fla. This was the first flight using SpaceX’s upgraded Dragon 2 capsule design.
Fourteen other astronaut missions followed — nine flights financed by NASA, five private ones — as well as 10 cargo missions for NASA taking equipment and supplies to the International Space Station. All splashed down safely off Florida.
