The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, carrying four astronauts from the International Space Station, successfully returned to Earth early Tuesday morning.
At 5:47 a.m. EDT, the Dragon Endurance capsule touched down into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, with NASA’s Space X Crew-7 on board. According to a map shared by NASA on social media, people from around the U.S. were able to catch a glimpse of the capsule during its return from orbit around Earth.
And many people took advantage of this amazing opportunity to capture the capsule streaking across the sky in the wee hours of the morning on video and share their clips on social media.
Okay….that was AWESOME!!!!
Dragon Endurance re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere over Broken Arrow, Oklahoma!
Welcome home #Crew7 !!!#NASA #SpaceX pic.twitter.com/o5atkBcJ1e
— Michael Seger (@MichaelSeger) March 12, 2024
“Okay…that was awesome,” Michael Seger, a meteorologist from Tulsa, Oklahoma, shared on X with a video of Dragon Endurance flying over Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.
People in New Orleans had a few moments to catch the spectacular site, too. Photographer Paul Morse shared an incredible video of the capsule flying over the city skyline, giving it the appearance of a shining comet.
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Welcome home! Crew7 returns to Earth over New Orleans early Tuesday morning. #Crew7 #NASA #SpaceX @MargaretOrr pic.twitter.com/Vy8LeiR2iq
— Paul Morse (@PaulMorsePhoto) March 12, 2024
NASA’s International Space Station X account shared a close-up video of the capsule gliding down to the Gulf of Mexico on four parachutes to welcome the four astronauts home.
Welcome home, #Crew7!
After spending six months aboard the space station, astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli of @NASA, Andreas Mogensen of @ESA, Satoshi Furukawa of @JAXA_en, and cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov of Roscosmos splashed down off the coast of Florida at 5:47am ET today. pic.twitter.com/IM7Cj3f0DK
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) March 12, 2024
For the last six months, NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov lived on the International Space Station, where they conducted more than 200 research experiments on plant life, medical science and more, including how spaceflight affects the human body’s immune system.
The crew’s return to Earth from space took them from their 17,500-mph orbit around Earth through the planet’s atmosphere to help slow down the craft enough where the parachutes to deploy and bring the capsule to a gentle touchdown on the water.
Crew members from the U.S. Coast Guard assisted NASA and SpaceX with the retrieval of the Dragon Endurance capsule and the crew.
Nothing like an early-morning swim.
Technicians have secured the Dragon spacecraft to the recovery ship and hopped clear as it's slowly lifted aboard. pic.twitter.com/UfJAFk7raz
— NASA (@NASA) March 12, 2024
If you want to watch the complete media coverage of this morning’s Space X Dragon Endurance’s return to Earth, you can catch the 2.5 hour video on NASA’s official YouTube Channel.
Following touchdown and recovery, NASA released photos of the Crew 7 team all looking healthy, happy to be home and on their way to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to reunite with their families and get a full medical checkup by NASA officials.
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#Crew7 safely splashed down off the coast of Florida on March 12 at 5:47am ET after spending 197 days aboard the @Space_station. They are currently en route to NASA's Johnson Space Center where they will soon be welcomed by friends and family. pic.twitter.com/QJjY27BLky
— NASA's Johnson Space Center (@NASA_Johnson) March 12, 2024
Congratulations to the SpaceX Crew 7 for your successful mission and welcome home!
Watch the SpaceX Dragon capsule reenter the Earth’s atmosphere originally appeared on Simplemost.com
