SpaceX’s new crew capsule on Friday returned from the International Space Station to an old-fashioned splashdown in the Atlantic, successfully ending a test flight that could lead to astronaut rides later this year.
The Dragon capsule undocked from the orbiting lab early on Friday. Six hours later, the capsule carrying a test dummy parachuted into the ocean off the Florida coast.
It was the final hurdle for the six-day demo, a critical prelude to SpaceX’s first flight with astronauts as early as summer.
Photo: Reuters / NASA
While improvements still need to be made, the company aims to fly NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on the next test flight.
SpaceX employees cheered and applauded at company headquarters near Los Angeles when the Dragon’s red-and-white parachutes popped open. NASA televised the descent live from a plane. The crowd went wild once the capsule splashed down and was seen floating upright.
“Just amazing. I can’t believe how well the whole mission has gone” with all major milestones met, SpaceX director of crew mission management Benji Reed said.
It was the first time in 50 years that a capsule designed for astronauts returned from space by plopping into the Atlantic. Apollo 9 — which orbited Earth in preparation for the moon landings — splashed down near the Bahamas on March 13, 1969.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine was ecstatic following splashdown.
All this is “leading to a day where we are launching American astronauts on American rockets from American soil,” he said.
A pair of recovery ships was stationed in the Atlantic well before splashdown and quickly moved in, lifting the capsule from the water within an hour. The capsule was expected at Port Canaveral yesterday night. Splashdowns are to occur much closer to shore once astronauts start flying.
Astronaut Shane Kimbrough, part of the recovery team, said that the capsule had brown scorch marks from top to bottom, but otherwise looked fine.
Next up is Boeing.
Boeing plans to launch its Starliner capsule without a crew as early as next month and with astronauts possibly in August. The Starliner is designed to land on land in the US southwest.
SpaceX acknowledged that some capsule systems need more work before Behnken and Hurley climb aboard for liftoff, as early as July.
Vibration, acoustic and other measurements were taken throughout the completed flight, not only of the capsule, but also the mannequin.
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