spacetoday.net: Crew Dragon splashes down successfully

Posted: Thu, Aug 6, 2020, 5:38 PM ET (2138 GMT)
Demo-2 splashdown (NASA)

A SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico Sunday afternoon, successfully returning two NASA astronauts to Earth. The spacecraft, named Endeavour by its crew of Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, landed without incident in the Gulf of Mexico south of Pensacola, Florida, at 2:48 pm EDT (1848 GMT). The astronauts exited the spacecraft a little more than an hour later, once the spacecraft was brought aboard a recovery vessel. The spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station Saturday evening after spending just over two months there on the Demo-2 mission. The undocking, reentry and splashdown went as planned, with the only issue being a large number of private boats swarming the area after splashdown. The completion of the test flight means that NASA and SpaceX can wrap up certification of the Crew Dragon in the next few weeks, allowing routine crew transportation missions to begin with the Crew-1 flight scheduled for no earlier than late September.