SpaceX returns 4 Nasa astronauts to Earth, ending 200-day mission on International Space Station
- SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule splashes down safely in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast
- It caps a six-month Nasa science mission aboard the International Space Station
Four astronauts returned to Earth on Monday, riding home with SpaceX to end a 200-day space station mission that began last spring.
Their capsule streaked through the late night sky like a dazzling meteor before parachuting into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. Recovery boats quickly moved in with spotlights.
Their homecoming – just eight hours after leaving the International Space Station – paved the way for SpaceX’s launch of their four replacements as early as Wednesday night.
The newcomers were scheduled to launch first, but Nasa switched the order because of bad weather and an astronaut’s undisclosed medical condition. The welcoming duties will now fall to the lone American and two Russians left behind at the space station.
Before Monday afternoon’s undocking, German astronaut Matthias Maurer, who is waiting to launch at Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre, tweeted it was a shame the two crews would not overlap at the space station but “we trust you’ll leave everything nice and tidy”. His will be SpaceX’s fourth crew flight for Nasa in just 1 1/2 years.