NASA and SpaceX Partner to Safely Return Astronauts to Earth

The SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft carrying four astronauts safely returned to Earth early Monday, splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida. The crew of the Crew-6 mission, which included NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg, Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, and UAE astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, had spent 185 days and 22 hours in orbit, circling the globe 2,976 times while traveling 78.9 million miles through space.

The Crew Dragon undocked from the International Space Station on Sunday morning and began its descent back to Earth. The spacecraft entered the atmosphere at about 12:17 a.m. EDT and splashed down in the ocean about 20 minutes later. The astronauts were then taken to a nearby recovery ship, where they were greeted by SpaceX and NASA personnel.

The successful return of the Crew Dragon marks another milestone in the development of commercial spaceflight. SpaceX has now completed six crewed missions to the International Space Station, and the company is also planning to launch astronauts to the Moon and Mars in the future.

Here are some additional details about the Crew Dragon return:

The Crew Dragon is a reusable spacecraft that is designed to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
The Crew Dragon is launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
The Crew Dragon has a crew capacity of up to seven people.
The Crew Dragon has a parachute system that helps it to land safely in the ocean.
The Crew Dragon has been used to transport astronauts to the International Space Station on six missions.
The Crew Dragon is also being developed to transport astronauts to the Moon and Mars.