NASA lauds success of SpaceX's first manned mission after astronauts' historic splashdown

After the success of SpaceX's first-ever crewed mission, NASA on Sunday applauded both its teams for their incredible work to make the first flight possible and for paving way for a bright future of human spaceflight.

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, carrying astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, splashed down under parachutes in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida on August 2 at 2:48 p.m. EDT and was successfully recovered by SpaceX. After returning to shore, the astronauts immediately flew back to Houston. The successful splashdown wrapped up the company's historic Demo-2 test flight to the International Space Station (ISS).

While addressing a press conference post the splashdown, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said that NASA marked a great victory and it was just the beginning. He welcomed the two astronauts and congratulated the NASA and SpaceX teams for the incredible work to make this test flight possible.

“It’s a testament to what we can accomplish when we work together to do something once thought impossible. Partners are key to how we go farther than ever before and take the next steps on daring missions to the Moon and Mars", NASA quoted Bridenstine in its release.

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He further said that NASA has entered a new era of human spaceflight where the space agency is no longer the purchaser, owner and operator of all the hardware. "We are going to be a customer, one customer of many customers in a very robust commercial marketplace for human spaceflight to low-Earth orbit", he said during the conference. With Demo-2 now in the books, the nation is poised to make this drought a distant memory, Bridenstine added.

SpaceX Demo-2 mission was launched on May 30 from Cape Canaveral which made it the first orbital crewed mission to depart from U.S. soil.

READ | SpaceX guiding NASA astronauts to first splashdown in 45 years

Crew Dragon to return back to Florida

Crew Dragon 'Endeavour' will return back to SpaceX’s Dragon Lair in Florida for further inspection and processing. The spacecraft's data and performance throughout the test flight will be examined by the team. The Demo-2 completion and the mission review will pave way for NASA to certify SpaceX's crew transportation system for regular flights carrying astronauts to and from the International Space station.  SpaceX is also preparing the hardware for the first rotational mission, called Crew-1 scheduled later this year and the mission is likely to occur after NASA certification.

The SpaceX Demo-2 test flight is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. It has closely worked with the United States aerospace industry to launch astronauts on US rockets and spacecraft from American soil to the space station for the first time since 2011. 

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