A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying four astronauts back to Earth splashed down off Panama City early Sunday, a NASA livestream showed.

Boats were retrieving the spacecraft and crew after their six-month mission aboard the International Space Station.

The crew reported they were feeling well, NASA said.

The capsule splashed down at 2:56 am (0656 GMT) in the dark in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast after a six-and-a-half hour flight from the ISS, images relayed by NASA's WB-57 high-altitude research aircraft showed.

Astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Japan's Soichi Noguchi went to space last November as the crew on the first fully operational mission to the ISS aboard a vehicle made by Elon Musk's SpaceX, which has become NASA's favored commercial transportation partner.

Seven astronauts remained on the ISS including a new crew of four who arrived on a different SpaceX craft last week.

"Thanks for your hospitality," Hopkins said earlier as the capsule undocked from the space station for its return journey. "We'll see you back on Earth."

Prior to that, two American astronauts made a test mission to the ISS in May and stayed for two months.

That was the first launch to the ISS from US soil since the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011. It was also the first crewed mission run by a private company, as opposed to NASA.

Until then US astronauts had caught rides to the ISS aboard Russian spacecraft.

Astronauts splash down in Gulf of Mexico off Florida
Washington DC (UPI) May 2, 2021 - Astronauts from SpaceX's Crew-1 mission splashed down in U.S. waters at 2:57 a.m. Sunday, and crews worked to inspect the capsule and then bring it aboard a recovery ship.

The astronauts saw the Crew Dragon capsule Resilience undock from the International Space Station at 8:35 p.m. EDT Saturday and head for the nighttime splashdown off Florida about 6 1/2 hours later.

Shortly before 2 a.m. EDT, the capsule's thrusters performed a 16-minute burn to slow the spacecraft, removing it from orbit and head the astronauts toward their prime landing area. Clear weather and minimal winds at about 2 knots were called excellent for the splashdown.

At the time if left orbit, the capsule was moving at 16,500 mph, and it eventually slowed to about 16 mph, with the aid of parachutes, when it hit the water in the Gulf of Mexico off Panama City, Fla.

The splashdown was the first night return of a U.S. crewed capsule since Apollo 8's predawn landing in the Pacific Ocean on Dec. 27, 1968, with NASA astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders.

According to NASA, the Crew Dragon undocked autonomously and left the space station, with the capability to splash down at one of seven predetermined landing zones.

The primary sites chosen Friday were in the Gulf of Mexico off Panama City, Fla., followed by near Tampa, Fla.

The astronauts brought with them what the space agency calls "important and time-sensitive research."

The capsule flew robotically, which was the plan, crew commander Mike Hopkins said in a news conference Monday from the space station.

"Your landings are always fairly dynamic, particularly with the capsules like this, particularly when the chutes are opening, so that's always a little bit exciting," Hopkins said.

NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Shannon Walker, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi will be in the capsule with Hopkins.

The Crew-1 mission marked the first time four people flew in a space capsule, and was only the second crewed launch for SpaceX and NASA's commercial crew program.

The best part of the mission was greeting the Crew-2 astronauts, who arrived on Saturday morning at the space station, Noguchi said at the press conference. That arrival boosted the population of the space station for a short while to 11 for the first time in years.

The Crew-1 mission was launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Nov. 15, before vaccines for the COVID-19 pandemic became available. The crew members intend to be vaccinated in the coming weeks, the astronauts said.

Related Links
Rocket Science News at Space-Travel.Com

Thanks for being there; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5+ Billed Monthly		SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal

FAA Authorizes SpaceX Starship SN15, SN16 and SN17
Washington DC (FAA) Apr 30, 2021
The FAA has authorized the next three launches of the SpaceX Starship prototype. The agency approved multiple launches because SpaceX is making few changes to the launch vehicle and relied on the FAA's approved methodology to calculate the risk to the public. The FAA authorized the launches on Wednesday, April 28. Prior to the launch of SN15, the FAA will verify that SpaceX implemented corrective actions arising from the SN11 mishap investigation. For the launch of SN16 and SN17, SpaceX may be sub ... read more

Read more from original source...