SpaceX Brings NASA Astronauts Home in Milestone Test Flight
- Splashdown caps first crewed flight by Musk’s rocket company
- Behnken, Hurley emerge after Dragon arrives, return to Houston
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NASA completed a triumphant return to U.S. space travel as SpaceX’s Dragon capsule plopped into the Gulf of Mexico with two astronauts, successfully concluding the company’s first crewed test flight to the International Space Station.
The spacecraft splashed down at about 2:48 p.m. Eastern time Sunday near Pensacola, Florida. A SpaceX vessel hoisted the vehicle carrying Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley onto its deck less than an hour after their arrival. The hatch opened at 3:59 p.m. and the astronauts emerged a short time later from their demonstration mission.