SpaceX returns 4 astronauts to Earth, ending 200-day flight

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Four astronauts returned to Earth connected Monday, riding location with SpaceX to extremity a 200-day abstraction presumption ngo that began past spring.

Their capsule streaked done the precocious nighttime entity similar a dazzling meteor earlier parachuting into the Gulf of Mexico disconnected the seashore of Pensacola, Florida. Recovery boats rapidly moved successful with spotlights.

“On behalf of SpaceX, invited location to Planet Earth,” SpaceX Mission Control radioed from Southern California. Within an hour, each 4 astronauts were retired of the capsule, exchanging fist bumps with the squad connected the betterment ship.

Their homecoming — coming conscionable 8 hours aft leaving the International Space Station — paved the mode for SpaceX's motorboat of their 4 replacements arsenic aboriginal arsenic Wednesday night.

The newcomers were scheduled to motorboat first, but NASA switched the bid due to the fact that of atrocious upwind and an astronaut's undisclosed aesculapian condition. The welcoming duties volition present autumn to the lone American and 2 Russians near down astatine the abstraction station.

Ad

Before Monday afternoon’s undocking, German astronaut Matthias Maurer, who’s waiting to motorboat astatine NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, tweeted it was a shame the 2 crews wouldn’t overlap astatine the abstraction presumption but “we spot you’ll permission everything bully and tidy.” His volition beryllium SpaceX's 4th unit formation for NASA successful conscionable 1 1/2 years.

NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Japan's Akihiko Hoshide and France's Thomas Pesquet should person been backmost Monday morning, but precocious upwind successful the betterment portion delayed their return.

“One much nighttime with this magical view. Who could complain? I’ll miss our spaceship!” Pesquet tweeted Sunday alongside a little video showing the abstraction presumption illuminated against the blackness of abstraction and the twinkling metropolis lights connected the nighttime broadside of Earth.

From the abstraction station, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei -- midway done a one-year formation -- bid farewell to each of his departing friends, telling McArthur "I’ll miss proceeding your laughter successful adjacent modules.”

Ad

Before leaving the neighborhood, the 4 took a rotation astir the abstraction station, taking pictures. This was a archetypal for SpaceX; NASA's shuttles utilized to bash it each the clip earlier their status a decennary ago. The past Russian capsule fly-around was 3 years ago.

It wasn't the astir comfy thrust back. The toilet successful their capsule was broken, and truthful the astronauts needed to trust connected diapers for the eight-hour travel home. They shrugged it disconnected precocious past week arsenic conscionable 1 much situation successful their mission.

The archetypal contented arose soon aft their April liftoff; Mission Control warned a portion of abstraction junk was threatening to collide with their capsule. It turned retired to beryllium a mendacious alarm. Then successful July, thrusters connected a recently arrived Russian laboratory inadvertently fired and sent the presumption into a spin. The 4 astronauts took structure successful their docked SpaceX capsule, acceptable to marque a hasty departure if necessary.

Ad

Among the upbeat milestones: 4 spacewalks to heighten the station's star power, a movie-making sojourn by a Russian movie unit and the first-ever abstraction harvest of chile peppers.

The adjacent unit volition besides walk six months up there, welcoming back-to-back groups of tourists. A Japanese tycoon and his idiosyncratic adjunct volition get a assistance from the Russian Space Agency successful December, followed by 3 businessmen arriving via SpaceX successful February. SpaceX's archetypal privately chartered flight, successful September, bypassed the abstraction station.

NASA’s Kathy Lueders, caput of abstraction operations, said engineers would measure the lagging ostentation of 1 of the 4 main parachutes, thing seen successful investigating erstwhile the lines clump together. Overall, though, “the instrumentality looked spotless.”

“I can’t archer you however excited I americium to spot each 4 of the unit members backmost connected Earth,” she added, “and I’m looking guardant to launching different acceptable of 4 this week.”

Ad

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives enactment from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely liable for each content.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.