Four astronauts have successfully completed their six-month mission aboard the International Space Station, making a dramatic splashdown landing in their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule off the coast of Florida on Monday.

These astronauts, part of the Crew-6 mission conducted collaboratively by NASA and SpaceX, began their journey back to Earth on Sunday at 7:05 am ET.

Spending the day aboard the 13-foot-wide Crew Dragon vehicle, they skillfully navigated through Earth’s orbit, ultimately targeting a landing site off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, where they safely touched down after midnight ET., CNN reported.

During the final phase of descent, the Crew Dragon capsule hurtled towards Earth at speeds exceeding 17,000 miles per hour (27,000 kilometers per hour).

As it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, the exterior of the spacecraft experienced temperatures reaching around 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,900 degrees Celsius). Inside the cabin, however, the passengers remained comfortably shielded from these extreme temperatures by a protective heat shield, ensuring conditions stayed well below 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius).

To further slow its descent, the capsule deployed a series of parachutes.

Nearby rescue crews stood ready at the splashdown site, prepared to retrieve the spacecraft and transport it onto a specialized vessel known as the “Dragon’s nest.”

Written by staff