Washington DC: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has said that they are targeting an August 2 return of the SpaceX's spacecraft from the International Space Station (ISS) to Earth.


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Jim Bridenstine, NASA's Administrator, wrote on his official Twitter account, "We're targeting an Aug. 1 departure of @SpaceX's Dragon Endeavour spacecraft from the @Space_Station to bring @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug home after their historic Launch America mission. Splashdown is targeted for Aug. 2. Weather will drive the actual date. Stay tuned."



Earlier on May 30, the Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk-owned SpaceX created history by becoming the first private rocket company to launch two American astronauts (NASA's Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley) towards orbit from Florida. 



Just before the liftoff, Hurley had said, "SpaceX, we're going for launch. Let`s light this candle," paraphrasing the famous comment uttered on the launch pad in 1961 by Alan Shepard, the first American flown into space.


SpaceX`s Crew Dragon capsule carrying Bob and Doug docked with the ISS on May 31, within 19 hours of the launch, making it the first US space capsule to do so with a crew since 2011.




The Crew Dragon had lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center after their second attempt as the first one was deferred due to the poor weather conditions.