SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which houses four Crew-7 mission astronauts, successfully returned to Earth after completing a splashdown off the coast of Florida at 5:50 a.m. EDT (9:50 a.m. UTC) on Tuesday.
The return marked the successful completion of SpaceX’s Crew-7 mission for NASA.
This mission ended just a week after the four astronauts aboard the Crew-8 mission arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) last Tuesday.
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Likewise, NASA broadcasted live the astronauts’ much-awaited return as they typically do.
Immediately after the splashdown, SpaceX’s recovery team rushed to the Dragon spacecraft for its recovery.
SpaceX used two fast boats, among others, to secure the Dragon and hoist it onto the site’s main deck with the Crew-7 mission’s astronauts inside.
Just minutes before the splashdown, the first set of parachutes opened when the Dragon was moving at 350 mph (564 km/h) at 18,000 feet.
Roughly a minute later, the main parachutes also opened up at an altitude of 6,000 feet, which helped the mighty splashdown.
To put things into context, the Crew-7 mission team stayed aboard the ISS for six months, conducting vital research and experiments for NASA.
SpaceX and NASA launched the mission on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida on August 26, 2023.
Completing more than six months in space, the Dragon spacecraft carrying the Crew-7 mission astronauts left the ISS on Monday.
The diverse team of astronauts includes NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen, JAXA astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov.
Completion of the Crew-7 mission marks eight successful missions that SpaceX has launched for NASA so far.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has built a firm partnership with NASA as they continue to launch missions together.
For instance, both parties are collaborating to build the first-ever base on the Moon.
