Thermal view of the Dragon spacecraft splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday morning. Photo courtesy of NASA TV
SpaceX’s Crew-7 returned back to Earth safely Tuesday morning, splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Fla.
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, the European Space Agency’s Andreas Mogensen, Japan Aerospace and Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov splashed down at 5:47 a.m. EDT. Advertisement
The parachute system on the Dragon worked to perfection with all four deploying at about 18,000 feet as the spacecraft fell back to the Earth. A recovery ship with a fast boat team completed the work to plucking the capsule out of the water onto the main deck of the ship.
Splashdown of Dragon confirmed – welcome back to Earth, @AstroJaws, @Astro_Andreas, @Astro_Satoshi, and Kostya! pic.twitter.com/iugZ6Awwvn— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 12, 2024
The astronauts underwent initial medical checks before taking a helicopter trip for a plane to Houston at the Johnson Space Center.
The crew left the International Space Station in the Dragon Space capsule late Monday morning.
After undocking from the International Space Station, the Dragon completed a deorbiting burn where it flew over southwest Nebraska, Kansas, northeastern Oklahoma, central Arkansas and northeastern Texas and then across Mississippi and Alabama on its way to the Gulf of Mexico. Advertisement
With the Crew-7’s return, Crew-8 has control of the International Space Station, including NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps along with Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin.
