On Saturday, four astronauts who had been on the space station returned to Earth in a SpaceX spacecraft. The capsule carrying the four astronauts splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico near Tampa, Florida, on Saturday, the Associated Press reported.
During their five-month stay at the International Space Station, a crew comprising of members from the U.S., Russia, and Japan had to navigate around space debris and manage the delivery of a replacement spacecraft for the station’s other crew members.
Additionally, they faced the challenge of handling two Russian capsules that were leaking and docked at the orbiting outpost.
NASA astronaut Nicole Mann, the first Native American woman to fly in space, led the team of astronauts who checked out of the International Space Station early Saturday morning.
Less than 19 hours later, their Dragon capsule was floating in the Gulf of Mexico, waiting for pickup, as reported by the AP.
Written by staff
B.C. Begley 