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SpaceX successfully returned its Crew Dragon spacecraft to orbit on Saturday. The capsule, which carried four members of the Inspiration4 mission, safely returned to Earth.
Crew Dragon capsule Resilience was seen splashing down from Cape Canaveral in Florida's Atlantic Ocean.
Shortly after splashdown, Elon Musk sent his congratulations to the crew via Twitter.
This historic private mission, which included Jared Isaacman as commander, Sian Proctor as pilot, Hayley Arceneaux as medical officer, and Chris Sembroski as mission specialist, orbited Earth at an altitude of 590 km. This is higher than the International Space Station, and it was the highest that humans have ever traveled above the Earth's surface in years. The capsule was a free-flying spaceflight and did not dock with the ISS, but instead circled Earth at a rate 15 orbits per hour.
Inspiration4 shared photos of the crew's time in orbit. These photos give a glimpse at the vast views from the spacecraft’s "cupola window".
This is the third return of astronauts to space by SpaceX, and the second for the capsule that previously flew the Crew-1 mission. It was a trip that returned in May.
SpaceX's previous astronaut missions crashed in the Gulf of Mexico. This is the first time that they have returned to the Atlantic Ocean.
