Astronauts return to Earth after spending 6 months in space
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Representational image of space. AFP/File
Four astronauts aboard a SpaceX Dragon Crew capsule returned to Earth early Sunday, splashing 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.
ORLANDO, Fla. — The first six-month rotation of an International Space Station crew to be carried up and returned to Earth by commercial partner SpaceX ended in the early morning
SpaceX: Astronauts leave International Space Station ahead of nightime splashdown
2 May, 2021 02:28 AM
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This image from video provided by NASA shows the SpaceX capsule as it departs the International Space Station. Photo / AP
This image from video provided by NASA shows the SpaceX capsule as it departs the International Space Station. Photo / AP
AP
A SpaceX capsule carrying four astronauts departed the International Space Station late Saturday, aiming for a rare nighttime splashdown to end the company s second crew flight.
It would be the first U.S. splashdown in darkness since Apollo 8′s crew returned from the moon in 1968.
SpaceX Dragon prepares for splashdown on return from ISS 1 minute read
Miami, May 1 (EFE).- SpaceX Dragon successfully separated from the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday, with the four Crew-1 astronauts on board readying for NASA’s first nighttime splashdown in 53 years.
NASA’s Shannon Walker, Michael Hopkins and Victor Glover, as well as Soichi Noguch, from the Japanese Space Agency, are scheduled to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday at 2.57 am local time (06:57 GMT), possibly across from Panama City, northwest Florida.
According to NASA, if the weather conditions are not ideal, the second option will be off the coast of Tampa, Florida.