Astronauts revisit their mission aboard ISS after returning to Earth in SpaceX capsule

Astronauts Bob Behnken and Douglas Hurley returned to Earth on August 3 in the Crew Dragon Space Capsule named Endeavour after spending 63-days at the International Space Station (ISS). The two astronauts, who created history, spoke about their experience during a press conference.

'Super super proud...': Bob Behnken

Astronaut Bob Behnken recalled his experience of how the team was sad after retiring their space shuttle to this day when America got its capability back to launch and bring back its astronauts.

"We went through years as Astronauts at the Johnson's Space Centre. We got to live through a big chunk of the shuttle era and a big chunk of the assembly of the space station. When the space shuttle retired, it was a sad day for us as there is something special to have that capability to launch and bring your own astronauts home, and we went through a lot of years without that capability. I think we are both super super proud having been just a small part of the team that accomplished bringing those spaceflights back to the Florida coast and bringing that capability back to America," Astronaut Bob Behnken said in the press conference.

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'Made prank satellite phone calls': Doug Hurley

A jovial Doug Hurley recalled his experience of the last five hours from the time when they were about to splash in the Gulf of Mexico. Hurley jokingly remarked, "Five hours ago we were bobbing around in the Gulf of Mexico, so it feels pretty good that we got this far in five hours."

"It is a privilege to be part of NASA and spend two months at International Space Station," he added.

"This was a real pleasure for both of us. Doug will talk about the spacewalks but to see those two work out on the international space station, you're not going to see anything like that again, it was just amazing to be a part of that. It's a lot to process. As I said, five hours ago we were in a spaceship bobbing around, making prank satellite phone calls to whoever we can get hold of, which was kind of fun by the way," he added. 

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The Dough and Bob were the first astronauts to ride a SpaceX capsule into orbit and return back to Earth with a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday afternoon to close out a two-month test flight. The splash in the Gulf of Mexico marked the first splashdown in 45 years for NASA astronauts and the first return in the gulf. the two US astronauts were heartily welcomed back by NASA and SpaceX team. The capsule landed after a 19-hour long journey following which two small boats were immediately sent to check if there were any toxic fumes around the vehicle.

(Image screengrab from @NASA | Twitter)