Photos: SpaceX Crew Dragon successfully brings NASA crew home

A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley splashed down into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida on August 2, bringing an end to SpaceX's historic Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station. The ocean landing for the NASA crew was the first since July 1975, when astronauts Tom Stafford, Vance Brand and Deke Slayton returned from the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project and splash landed in the middle of the Pacific.

Updated on: Aug 03, 2020 8:02 PM IST

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NASA astronauts Robert Behnken (L) and Douglas Hurley (R) are seen inside the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship shortly after landing in Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola in Florida on August 2. The Crew Dragon Endeavour is America’s first crewed spaceship to fly to the International Space Station in nearly a decade, AFP reported. (Bill Ingalls / NASA / AFP)

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The Crew Dragon capsule is lifted out of water off Pensacola coast in Florida on August 2. The capsule splashed into the water off Pensacola at 2:48 pm (18:48 GMT) in a first water landing for a crewed US spaceship since the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission. (NASA via REUTERS)

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According to AFP, Crew Dragon deployed two sets of parachutes on its descent, bringing its landing speed down to a mere 15 mph as it hit the Gulf of Mexico off Pensacola coast in Florida on August 2. (Cory Huston / NASA via AP)

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Astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley are seen aboard SpaceX’s Dragon Endeavour spacecraft before its landing on August 2. The hatch opening was briefly delayed as a team worked to stop a leak of rocket fuel vapour, but around an hour after splashdown, the astronauts exited the capsule and headed for shore on a helicopter. (NASA via REUTERS)

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Support teams and curious recreational boaters arrive at the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft shortly after it landed off Pensacola coast in Florida on August 2. President Donald Trump had travelled to Florida two months ago to attend the launch of the mission to the ISS. (Bill Ingalls / NASA / AFP)

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NASA Chief Astronaut Pat Forrester (L) and NASA Crew Recovery Chief Shane Kimbrough look at the landing as their teams prepare for the astronauts’ exit from the spacecraft. The mission is also a huge win for Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which was founded in only 2002 but has leap-frogged its way past Boeing, its main competitor in the commercial space race, AFP reported. (Bill Ingalls / NASA / AFP)

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NASA astronaut Robert Behnken gives a thumbs-up to onlookers on the way to board a plane at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida on August 2. “There’s something special about having that capability to launch and bring your own astronauts home,” Behnken said while addressing a socially distant welcome ceremony. Behnken and Hurley returned after spending 64 days in space. (Bill Ingalls / NASA via AP)

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A SpaceX support team fast boat seen from the SpaceX recovery ship cost off Pensacola coast in Florida on August 2. A successful return marks only the beginning for the Crew Dragon Endeavor as SpaceX and NASA look ahead to the next mission – Crew -1. This subsequent mission is said to take off in September this year. (Bill Ingalls / NASA / AFP)