On the morning of 2 May 2021, NASA astronauts onboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft has safely returned to earth. The next goal? To send private citizens to space!
SpaceX's spacecraft known as Crew Dragon Resilience has safely landed on earth, transporting Crew-1 astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi. Their return from space after nearly six months is quite momentous as it is considered the longest duration mission for a US spacecraft since 1974 which was Skylab's final mission.
By 2:56am, Crew Dragon Resilience landed around the Florida area, just 6.5 hours after undocked from the International Space Station. Their return in the evening is also one for the books as it is the first nighttime splashdown of a US spacecraft with a crew strapped inside since 1968.
Crew-1's mission has contributed to various scientific investigations including new drug discoveries which are studied through protein crystal development and even developing robotic assistant technologies.
The astronauts also grew crops in the Advanced Plant Habitat and Veggie plant growth facilities. They have also contributed hundreds of pictures of Earth to continue one of the longest-running investigations aboard, the Crew Earth Observation investigation, which helps track natural disasters and changes to the earth.
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