SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts splash down in safe return home

by · Digital Trends

SpaceX’s Crew-2 astronauts have splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico at the end of an eight-hour voyage from the International Space Station (ISS).

The Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft performed a parachute-assisted water landing at the expected time of 10:33 p.m ET (7:33 p.m. PT) on Monday, November 8.

The Crew-2 astronauts — NASA’s Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, the European Space Agency’s Thomas Pesquet, and Akihiko Hoshide from Japan’s space agency — departed the ISS at 2:05 p.m ET (11:05 a.m. PT) on Monday after spending 199 days in space, and later splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico near Pensacola, Florida.

SpaceX and NASA livestreamed the return journey and also dropped regular posts on social media to keep interested folks up to date with events.

Here’s how the evening unfolded:

In the video below you can listen to NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, who is remaining on the ISS, say his goodbyes to the Crew-2 astronauts as they begin their trip home:

Here’s the Crew Dragon as seen from the space station shortly after the undocking procedure:

A series of departure burns sent the Crew Dragon on its first fly-around of the ISS in preparation for the final stages of the return journey:

Ahead of entering Earth’s atmosphere, the astronauts changed into their spacesuits:

Entering Earth’s atmosphere at high speed:

The final stages of the voyage back to Earth were captured by night cameras:

NASA
NASA
NASA

Our own Phil Nickinson saw the fireball as the Dragon capsule made its way to splashdown just south of Pensacola, Fla.

A glimpse of the crew before they were helped out of the spacecraft:

Pesquet’s pictures

Shortly before departing the space station, French astronaut Thomas Pesquet posted a tweet to celebrate 200 days in space.

It’s certainly been a busy mission for Pesquet and his crewmates, who have spent the last half year working on countless science experiments while also conducting spacewalks and capturing fabulous imagery from 250 miles above our planet.

This is the fourth SpaceX mission to bring astronauts home from space using its Crew Dragon spacecraft. Following years of testing, SpaceX’s first astronaut flight took place in the summer of 2020 when it sent NASA’s Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the space station, bringing them safely home two months later. Subsequent crewed voyages have included the Crew-1 mission that ran from November 2020 through May 2021, the all-civilian Inspiration4 flight in September 2021, and the current Crew-2 mission.