Welcome Home Crew-1: NASA and SpaceX Crew Dragon Splashdown Complete!

After a six-month stay aboard the International Space Station, NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi began their return home to Earth on Saturday, May 1. About 7 hours later, the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft splashed down near Panama City, Florida in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday, May 2.

Read more about the splashdown and catch up on NASA's SpaceX Crew-1 mission on SPACE LAUNCH LIVE: CREW-1 LIFTOFF, streaming on discovery+.

May 02, 2021

By: Discovery

Related To:

Shop This Look

Photo By: NASA/Bill Ingalls

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 Pre-Splashdown

Manager, NASA ISS Transportation Integration Office, Bill Spetch, and NASA astronaut representative, Joe Acaba, watch dolphin swim along with the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship as NASA and SpaceX teams prepare for the landing of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Panama City, Florida, Saturday, May 1, 2021.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 Pre-Splashdown

NASA and SpaceX support teams depart from Pensacola, Florida via helicopter to the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship to prepare for the landing of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft with NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Shannon Walker, and Victor Glover, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission is the first crew rotation flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket with astronauts to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 Pre-Splashdown

The night sky off the bow of the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship is seen in this one second exposure photograph as NASA and SpaceX support teams prepare for the landing of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 Splashdown

Support teams work around the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft shortly after it landed.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 Splashdown

Support teams work around the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft shortly after it landed.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 Splashdown

The SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft is lifted onto the GO Navigator recovery ship after it landed with NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Shannon Walker, and Victor Glover, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi aboard in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Panama City, Florida, Sunday, May 2, 2021.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 Splashdown

NASA astronauts Shannon Walker, left, Victor Glover, Mike Hopkins, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi, right are seen inside the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship shortly after having landed.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 Splashdown

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi is helped out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship after he landed in the Gulf of Mexico.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 Splashdown

NASA astronaut Shannon Walker is helped out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship after she landed in the Gulf of Mexico.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 Splashdown

NASA astronaut Victor Glover is helped out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship after he landed in the Gulf of Mexico.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 Splashdown

NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins is helped out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship.