SpaceX Carries NASA Astronaut Mission Home With Safe Water Landing
The New York Times
The Crew-2 astronauts spent nearly 200 days in orbit, and their stay aboard the International Space Station was punctuated with surprises.
Four astronauts inside a capsule built by SpaceX streaked across the Florida night sky like a meteor before splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico Monday night. The water landing capped an eventful six-month stay on the International Space Station.
The space travelers were part of a mission called Crew-2: Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur of NASA; Akihiko Hoshide of JAXA, Japan’s space agency; and Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency.
“It’s great to be back to planet Earth,” Mr. Kimbrough, Crew-2’s commander, said to SpaceX mission control from inside the capsule after it and four large parachutes fluttered down into still waters near Pensacola, Fla. He and his fellow astronauts left the space station at 2:05 p.m. Eastern time on Monday afternoon, and returned to Earth at 10:33 p.m.
