SpaceX returns 4 astronauts to Earth, ending 200-day flight
Four astronauts aboard SpaceX’s flagship Dragon capsule returned to Earth on Monday night after spending 200 days in space.
The capsule fell into the Gulf of Mexico, just off Pensacola, Fla. and was then recovered by recovery boats.
“On behalf of SpaceX, welcome home to Planet Earth,” SpaceX Mission Control radioed from Southern California.
The astronauts were expected back from the International Space Station on Monday morning — but high winds delayed their homecoming.
Aboard the returned capsule were NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Japan’s Akihiko Hoshide and France’s Thomas Pesquet.
After their capsule burst, the foursome had to change into diapers for the eight hour trip home.
McArthur said on Friday that while the situation is certainly “suboptimal,” the crew would manage.
“Spaceflight is full of lots of little challenges,” she said during a news conference from space. “This is just one more that we’ll encounter and take care of in our mission. So we’re not too worried about it.”
SpaceX will send four more astronauts to space station for a six-month additional stay as soon as Wednesday night.
They will be greeted on their arrival by two Russian and one American astronauts who have remained at the station.
With Post wires
