Four astronauts aboard Elon Musk’s private rocket ride splashed down at midnight on Friday.
Less than 24 hours after leaving the International Space Station, the three US astronauts and one German plunged back to Earth and plopped into the Gulf of Mexico near Tampa on the Florida coast. Nasa expected to have them back in Houston later in the morning.
“That was a great ride,” said Raja Chari, the capsule commander. As for the reintroduction to gravity, he said: “Only one complaint. These water bottles are super heavy.”
Mr Chari, Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron, and the European Space Agency’s Matthias Maurer, were out of the capsule within an hour of splashdown, waving and giving thumbs-up before being whisked away for medical checks.
They said their departure from the space station on Thursday was bittersweet.
“It’s the end of a six-month mission but I think the space dream lives on,” Mr Maurer said.
SpaceX brought up their US and Italian replacements last week, after completing a charter trip to the station for a trio of businessmen.
That amounts to two crew launches and two splashdowns in barely a month. Mr Musk’s company has now launched 26 people into orbit in less than two years, since it started ferrying astronauts for Nasa. Eight of those 26 were space tourists.
Barely five hours after splashdown, the company founded in 2002 launched more of its own internet satellites, known as Starlinks, from Cape Canaveral. There were 53 of the mini flat-panel satellites in this predawn load.
SpaceX vice president William Gerstenmaier told reporters: “Satellites are nice, but flying people is a little special and a little bit different, and the team here sure understands that. There’s a sense of relief and a sense of accomplishment that you know you’ve done something good.”
Nasa is more impressed than ever, given SpaceX’s unprecedented pace. The only problem of note in the latest flight was a mechanical nut that wiggled loose and floated away from the SpaceX capsule after Thursday’s undocking. Officials assured everyone it would not pose a danger to the space station.
The astronauts said their mission was highlighted by the three visitors and their ex-astronaut escort who dropped by in April, opening up the station to paying guests after decades of resistance.
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Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched another group of astronauts to space for Nasa on Wednesday. Photo: SpaceX -
Crew-4 mission astronauts (from L) Bob Hines, Kjell Lindgren, Jessica Watkins and Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency walk out of the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building en route to launch complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 27, 2022. AFP -
The crew inside a Tesla vehicle that will transport them to the launch pad in Florida. EPA -
A Dragon capsule fitted atop the rocket will carry the Crew-4 astronauts to the International Space Station, with arrival expected on Thursday, 4.15am, Dubai time. Photo: SpaceX -
The rocket lifted off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre at 11.52am. The launch was streamed live by SpaceX and Nasa. Photo: SpaceX -
The crew inside the Dragon capsule. Photo: SpaceX -
Dragon capsule carrying Crew-4 astronauts on the way to the ISS. Photo: SpaceX
On the downside, they had to contend with a dangerous surge in space junk after Russia blew up a satellite in a missile test in mid-November, producing about 1,500 pieces of shrapnel.
While the war in Ukraine has caused tension between the US and Russia, the astronauts have stood by their Russian crewmates, and vice versa. Flight controllers in Houston and Moscow also continued to co-operate as always, Nasa officials said.
As he relinquished command of the space station earlier this week, Mr Marshburn called it “a place of peace” and said international co-operation would likely be its lasting legacy. Russian Oleg Artemyev, the new commander, also emphasised the “peace between our countries, our friendship” in orbit and described his crewmates as brothers and sisters.
Currently orbiting are three Russians, three Americans and one Italian.
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Saleh Al Ameri lived inside a remote Russian plant, in near-isolation, as part of an eight-month spaceflight research project. Locked away on November 4, he conducted several experiments. All photos: Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre -
Mr Al Ameri is part of the Sirius 20/21 project that measures the psychological and physiological effect on humans living in the extreme environments that astronauts face during space travel. -
The international crew of six entered the NEK experimental complex in Moscow on November 4, where scientists are observing their behaviour using cameras installed throughout the centre. -
Mr Al Ameri inside the centre in Moscow. -
Mr Al Ameri's room in the complex. Each participant has a similar small space for privacy, while a small living room allows them to socialise and watch television. Each bedroom has a bed, desk and cupboard. -
Aballa Al Hammadi, the back-up Emirati for the project, checks in on his colleague Mr Al Ameri, who is inside the complex. -
Mr Al Ameri, 31, is the first Arab to be part of an analogue mission – field tests that simulate lengthy space journeys. These are crucial to understanding how space flight affects the body and mind, as governments and private companies work towards landing people on the Moon and Mars. -
He celebrated the UAE's Golden Jubilee on December 2 inside the centre. -
His colleagues celebrated the UAE's Golden Jubilee with him. -
Crew members simulated a space journey to the Moon as part one of the experiments. They docked their 'spacecraft' with an interplanetary station and then transferred to a transport ship that will take them to the Moon.
