NASA Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley have returned to Earth with a successful splashdown off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, on Sunday afternoon.
Behnken emerged first from the capsule and gave a thumbs-up. Hurley followed. It was the first splashdown for astronauts since July of 1975 at the end of the Apollo-Soyuz mission.
Behnken and Hurley who made the historic SpaceX launch last May, returned to Earth and were in communication prior to emerging from the capsule and being moved to a medical facility area.
The team executed a series of purges and started with egress shortly after the vessel was hoisted aboard the recovery ship. A stretcher was implemented as standard procedure to bring the astronauts to the medical tent easily.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, named Endeavour, splashed down at 2:48 p.m. ET.
“Welcome back to Earth,” SpaceX posted on social media. “Good splashdown of Dragon confirmed! Welcome back to Earth.”
