EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – On Sunday, August 2, the SpaceX Capsule carrying astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken successfully landed in the Gulf of Mexico. Hurley and Behnken had spent the prior two months working at the International Space Station.

The splash down marked the first time in 45 years that astronauts have returned to Earth via an ocean landing. This successful mission also opened the door for a new era of spaceflight, one which NASA contracts with private companies such as Hawthorne-based SpaceX to take its astronauts to the space station.

What You Need To Know

  • SpaceX capsule carrying two NASA astronauts splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico on August 2 

  • This was the first time in 45 years that astronauts have returned to Earth via an ocean landing

  • The mission opens doors for a new era of spaceflight, one in which NASA contracts with private companies like SpaceX

  • NASA and SpaceX teams are going through the data from the capsule and the flight to prepare for future missions

Once the capsule detached from the space station and made its way towards Earth, it was hurtling pretty quickly and it was really hot. Cool air was cycled through the capsule to make sure the astronauts were comfortable. Once it hit the Earth’s atmosphere, still hurtling, there were two drogue parachutes that shot out from the capsule to help slow it down to 150 miles per hour. Then four more main parachutes also came out of the capsule.

“They kind of looked like jellyfish, they sprout out and kind of balloon out, and that way they were able to land it 15 miles per hour in the ocean splashdown. It went pretty successfully. After that there was a recovery boat that will put them on the deck,” said LA Times staff writer, Samantha Masunaga. 

 

The one thing that took a little bit longer was that there were some toxic fumes that were coming from around the capsule. NASA says those types of vapor checks are pretty common and that the levels were acceptable. They just wanted to be more conservative and make sure things were OK.

They next checked and flushed the air around the capsule to make sure everything was OK inside and pulled out the astronauts and got them medically checked to ensure all was well.

“They were helping out with some work aboard the space station, Bob did a spacewalk and was able to help with that. They brought back quite a bit of cargo, they had some scientific research. And, one thing that was especially interesting is that they brought back an American flag that had been left on the station by the last American shuttle crew as a way to carry the torch,” Masunaga said.

This was the first time that NASA contracted with a commercial company like SpaceX to take its astronauts to the space station. It is sort of a new model where NASA will pay private companies for services. NASA says the arrangement lets the agency focus its attention on more ambitious missions to the moon or Mars, while commercial companies take over more routine spaceflight operations in low-Earth orbit, such as carrying cargo or crew members to the space station.

Boeing’s Strainer capsule made its first uncrewed test flight in December, but the spacecraft failed to make it to the space station because of several problems and had to return to Earth days ahead of schedule. Boeing will fly another uncrewed test mission to the space station before the launching crew.

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“Now NASA and SpaceX are going to comb through that data from the flight to make sure that they know everything that was going on with the capsule. They are going to certify that capsule, assuming everything look OK for future missions. And the next mission from this capsule could be as soon as September,” Masunaga added.

They also want to make sure that the boats that rush to the splashdown location stay a little further away this time. Both NASA and SpaceX say they will be watching for that a little more closely.