Welcome back! Today NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken returned from a historic mission, splashing down off the coast of Pensacola, Florida in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Demo-2 capsule.

Earlier this year, Hurley and Behnken made space history, becoming the first astronauts to fly from U.S. soil since 2011. At the same time, SpaceX became the first commercial company – ever – to send humans into space.

While technically a test flight, Hurley and Behnken remained at the station for two months. Hurley performed four space walks during his stay with astronaut Cristopher Cassidy, with Behnken assisting by operating the International Space Station’s robot arm.

Today’s splashdown was the first U.S. splashdown since 1975, and it will not be the last. The next Crew Dragon flight
to the International Space Station – “Crew-1” – will launch no earlier than September 2020.

Interested in more space stories like this one? Be sure to check out our weekly Planetarium Online live streams, streaming every Thursday at 1:00 PM on Liberty Science Center’s Facebook page.

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