Four space station astronauts returned to Earth late Saturday after a quick SpaceX flight home.
Their capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico just off the Florida coast near Tampa.
The U.S.-Russian-Japanese crew spent five months at the International Space Station, arriving last October. Besides dodging space junk, the astronauts had to deal with a pair of leaking Russian capsules docked to the orbiting outpost and the urgent delivery of a replacement craft for the station's other crew members.
Splashdown of Dragon confirmed – welcome back to Earth, @AstroDuke, @Astro_Josh, @Astro_Wakata, and Anna! pic.twitter.com/LHrrqL5g6U
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 12, 2023
It was so well worth running out to the river to catch a glimpse of @spacex #Crew5 zipping across the sky toward their splashdown off of Tampa. The plasma around the Crew Dragon Capsule was an awesome sight! Love it!!! And my old Pixel3 phone still does a pretty good job! 💖🇺🇸🚀 pic.twitter.com/aMrX5P0ZrC
— Judy A. Jones (@EastGlacierMT) March 12, 2023
Welcome home Crew-5! Good to see ya from Orlando! @SpaceX @MCO #Crew5 #reentry #splashdown #mco pic.twitter.com/16SmORCjjX
— Dan Faenza (@DanFaenza) March 12, 2023
The return of #Crew5 astronauts as viewed from the #Florida Big Bend last night. These never get old and great to hear about the safe splashdown.
— Wright Dobbs (@WrightDobbs) March 12, 2023
Planned with @flightclubio. #nasa #spacex #FLwx #CrewDragon pic.twitter.com/z2KQMoseEf
Space X's Crew 5 Mission returned to earth Saturday night. Here's a view just prior to splashdown off the west coast of Florida. #space #FLwx pic.twitter.com/Jqsxi8aFUp
— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) March 12, 2023
Space Dragon crew 5 reentery over the Gulf of Mexico seen from the Yucatan coast. Awesome sight.@SpaceX @NASA @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/8GzxLaSA59
— TheBruceHuff (@TheBruceHuff) March 12, 2023
The #SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance streaks toward splashdown (low and to the left of the palm tree) Saturday night as the #Crew5 crew safely returned to Earth. pic.twitter.com/KFomMdTV8p
— Michael Seeley (@Mike_Seeley) March 12, 2023
Led by NASA's Nicole Mann, the first Native American woman to fly in space, the astronauts checked out of the station early Saturday morning. Less than 19 hours later, their Dragon capsule was bobbing in the sea as they awaited pickup.
Earlier in the week, high wind and waves in the splashdown zones kept them at the station a few extra days. Their replacements arrived more than a week ago.
“That was one heck of a ride,” Mann radioed moments after splashdown. “We're happy to be home.”
Mann, a member of Northern California's Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, said she couldn’t wait to feel the wind on her face, smell fresh grass and enjoy some delicious Earth food.
Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata craved sushi, while Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina yearned to drink hot tea "from real cup, not from plastic bag.”
NASA astronaut Josh Cassada's to-do list included getting a rescue dog for his family. “Please don't tell our two cats,” he joked before departing the space station.
Remaining behind at the space station are three Americans, three Russians and one from the United Arab Emirates.
Wakata, Japan's spaceflight champion, now has logged more than 500 days in space over five missions dating back to NASA's shuttle era.
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