SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule with two NASA astronauts makes splashdown in Florida

SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour, NASA's first crewed spaceship to fly to the International Space Station in nearly a decade, returned safely to Earth on Sunday (August 2), splashing down into the water off Pensacola, Florida at 2:48 pm (1848 GMT).

The successful mission was carried out jointly by SpaceX and NASA and it has shown that the US has the technology to send its astronauts to space and bring them safely back to the earth.

"Thanks for flying @SpaceX."

 Current Location: Planet Earth

A 2:48pm ET, @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug splashed down, marking the first splashdown of an American crew spacecraft in 45 years. #LaunchAmerica pic.twitter.com/zO3KlNwxU3 — NASA (@NASA) August 2, 2020

Endeavour's water landing is significant because it is the first water landing for a crewed US spaceship since the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission.

"It's truly our honor and privilege," said pilot Doug Hurley, who was joined on the mission by commander Bob Behnken.

"On behalf of the NASA and SpaceX teams, welcome back to planet Earth and thanks for flying SpaceX," replied SpaceX's Mike Heiman.

Around an hour after splashdown, both the astronauts came out of the capsule and boarded a helicopter to reach the shore. Hurley and Bhenken would come to Houston on a plane where they will meet their family members.

"We are entering a new era of human spaceflight, where NASA is no longer the purchaser, owner and operator of all the hardware," said NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine in a call with reporters.

"This is really just the beginning: we are starting the journey of bringing people regularly to and from low Earth orbit, on to the Moon, and then ultimately on to Mars," added Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX.

US President Donald Trump has lauded the safe return of the astronauts. It is to be noted that President Trump had travelled to Florida for the launch of the capsule two months ago.

"Thank you to all! Great to have NASA Astronauts return to Earth after very successful two month mission," tweeted Trump.

Great to have NASA Astronauts return to Earth after very successful two month mission. Thank you to all!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 2, 2020

The success of this mission is also seen as a major victory for Elon Musk's SpaceX, which has now raced ahead of Boeing, its main competitor in the commercial space race.

Behnken and Hurley spent around two months at the ISS following the historic launch of the Demo-2 mission from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 30.