US' first crewed spaceship to fly to the International Space Station in nearly a decade returns safely to Earth splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico
More than an hour after splashdown, the astronauts emerged from their capsule on the deck of a recovery ship, both signalling a thumbs-up as they headed for medical exams.The spacecraft went from a screaming orbital speed of 28,000 kph to 560 kph during atmospheric reentry, and finally to 24 kph at splashdown. Peak heating during descent was 1,900 degrees Celsius. The anticipated top G forces felt by the crew: four to five times the force of Earth’s gravity.
The opening of the hatch was held up briefly by extra checks for toxic rocket fumes outside the capsule. After medical exams, the astronauts were expected to fly home to Houston for a reunion with their wives and sons. Musk was also headed to Texas to meet with them from SpaceX’s Mission Control in California.“Anybody who’s touched Endeavour, you should take a moment to just cherish the day, especially given all the things that have happened this year.
The last time NASA astronauts returned from space to water was on July 24, 1975, in the Pacific, the scene of most splashdowns, to end a joint US-Soviet mission known as Apollo-Soyuz. It was the first time a private company launched people into orbit and also the first launch of NASA astronauts from home turf in nearly a decade. Hurley came full circle, serving as pilot of NASA’s last space shuttle flight in 2011 and the commander of this SpaceX flight.
NASA turned to SpaceX and also Boeing to build capsules and ferry astronauts to and from the space station, following the retirement of the shuttles. Until Hurley and Behnken rocketed into orbit, NASA astronauts relied on Russian rockets. SpaceX already had experience hauling cargo to the space station, bringing those capsules back to a Pacific splashdown.
“It was an enormous relief after months of anxiety making sure we could bring Bob and Doug back home safely,” Shotwell said.
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