SpaceX returns 4 astronauts to Earth, ending 200-day flightv

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By MARCIA DUNN

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Four astronauts returned to Earth on Monday, riding home with SpaceX to end a 200-day space station mission that began last spring.

Their capsule streaked through the late night sky like a dazzling meteor before parachuting into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. Recovery boats quickly moved in with spotlights.

“On behalf of SpaceX, welcome home to Planet Earth,” SpaceX Mission Control radioed from Southern California. Within an hour, all four astronauts were out of the capsule, exchanging fist bumps with the team on the recovery ship.

Their homecoming — coming just eight hours after leaving the International Space Station — paved the way for SpaceX’s launch of their four replacements as early as Wednesday night.



In this photo provided by NASA, from left to right, European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet, NASA astronauts Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide gesture inside the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship shortly after having landed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Fla., Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. The astronauts returned to Earth on Monday to end a 200-day space station mission that began last spring. (Aubrey Gemignani/NASA via AP)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/science-business-florida-gulf-of-mexico-pensacola-d7fe8e7575ffa50eeba5cbf708250b35

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. Love the unis. They look a lot more easy to get around in than the original equipment. NT

[Grammy23]

2. We were told to expect a sonic boom and fireball across the sky

as the astronauts plunged back to earth. We went outside, looked where we were told to look but unfortunately saw and heard nothing. It was still exciting knowing they were landing just a few short miles south of us in the Gulf of Mexico. Conditions were near perfect with seas almost flat. Glasslike. From what we were told, things went off as planned and the astronauts are home safe and sound! I don’t know how this area was selected for the return but it is neat to be a part of this program.