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The Crew Dragon spacecraft (C206 Endeavor) of the first manned SpaceX Demo-2 mission with astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Benken successfully returned to Earth from the ISS, the flight took about 19 hours. At 21:48 Kiev time, the ship splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico south of Pensacola (Florida), marking the successful completion of the historic flight. The final part of the mission with the return of the ship was broadcast on the SpaceX YouTube channel.
The Crew Dragon capsule with astronauts successfully descended by parachute and splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico. The crew was met and picked up by a special rescue vessel Go Navigator.
Good splashdown of Dragon confirmed! Welcome back to Earth, @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug! pic.twitter.com/0vAS3CcK9P
– SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 2, 2020
SpaceX Demo-2 is the final stage of certification before the start of full-fledged regular operation of the Crew Dragon spacecraft. The Crew Dragon, with the crew of the first manned mission SpaceX Demo-2, took off on a Falcon 9 rocket on May 30 and successfully docked to the ISS after a 19-hour flight. In total, Crew Dragon spent two months at the ISS.
Dragon is stable in the water
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 2, 2020
The crewed spacecraft Crew Dragon is developed by SpaceX as part of the NASA Commercial Crew Program, which aims to support commercial space transport companies. The spacecraft can accommodate from 4 to 7 people and can spend up to 200 days docked to the ISS.
Previously, NASA authorized the re-use of Crew Dragon to deliver people to the ISS. According to the plan, this particular ship (C206 Endeavor) will be used as part of the future Crew-2 mission, scheduled for spring 2021.
In the future, SpaceX plans to use Crew Dragon not only to deliver crews to the ISS, but also for tourist flights into space. To date, SpaceX has announced two such missions (1 and 2) – both slated for 2021.
More than 1 million viewers simultaneously watched the return of Crew Dragon on NASA and SpaceX YouTube channels. By comparison, the launch of Crew Dragon in May was simultaneously watched by over 4 million YouTube viewers.
1 million people watching! pic.twitter.com/HaITuH5F94
– Project Wilson (@project_wilson) August 2, 2020
