A SpaceX rocket with three Americans and a Russian on board lands. They were supposed to come back in August.
Four men have come back to Earth after spending almost eight months in space. Their stay was longer than planned because of problems with Boeing’s capsule and Hurricane Milton.
After coming off the International Space Station earlier this week, the SpaceX ship with the crew parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico early Friday morning, just off the coast of Florida.
Three Americans and one Russian were supposed to be back home two months ago, but problems with Boeing’s new Starliner astronaut capsule kept them from getting back. In September, the capsule came back empty because of safety issues. After Hurricane Milton got in the way, there were two more weeks of strong winds and rough seas.
In March, SpaceX sent four humans into space. They were Matthew Dominick from NASA, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps, and Alexander Grebenkin from Russia. Barratt was the only person on the trip who had been in space before. He thanked the support teams back home for having to “replan, retool, and kind of redo everything right along with us… and helped us roll with all those punches.”
The two test pilots for the Starliner, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, have taken their places. Their mission has been extended from eight days to eight months, and two humans were launched by SpaceX four weeks ago. Those four will stay in orbit until February.
ALSO READ:
