Astronaut Nick Hague says ‘what a ride’ and says capsule is ‘full of grins’
My colleague Richard Luscombe, who is covering the mission from Florida, has more of the first reaction we heard from the returned astronauts.
“And splashdown. Crew 9 back on Earth. Nick, Aleksandr, Butch and Suni, on behalf of SpaceX, welcome home,” a voice from mission control said.
“What a ride. I see a capsule full of grins, ear to ear,” Nicholas Hague, the third American on board, replied.
We’ll have more from Richard soon.
Key events
“Smiles all around” as we get the first footage of Crew-9 astronauts back on Earth.
The side hatch of the spacecraft has just been opened. We’re still waiting for sight of the returned astronauts inside.
When the astronauts exit shortly, it will be “the crew’s first breath of fresh air since boarding their ships at the start of their journeys last year”, SpaceX’s Kate Tice notes.
We’re shortly going to see the four astronauts being escorted out of the spacecraft, and walk a short distance to where they’ll receive medical checks.
Some additional live footage of the dolphins that were spotted swimming around the downed spacecraft as it floats off the coast of Florida …
… just kidding: this is a dolphin illustration by the iconic 1980s/1990s American designer Lisa Frank. (It has been an eerily picture-perfect day, however.)
The Dragon Freedom spacecraft has now been successfully lifted out of the water and placed into a “nest” on a recovery vessel, where it’s being repositioned slightly, and will also be rinsed off, to protect it from the corrosion of saltwater.
It’s been about 30 minutes since the splashdown.
Here’s the lifting in process:
An image of a worker helping prepare the rigging on the just-landed capsule so it can be lifted out of the water:
We’re expected to see the returned astronauts exit from the capsule shortly, Sandra Jones, a Nasa public affairs officer, notes as she narrates Nasa’s live feed.
The capsule will be lifted on a “nest” on the recovery vessel, and then the astronauts will be able to exit.
To add to the picture-perfect footage coming from Nasa right now, dolphins are swimming around the floating capsule as the recovery team prepares it to be hoisted onto the recovery ship.
“We’ve got a cute little pod of dolphins,” one live commenter adds.
Astronaut Nick Hague says ‘what a ride’ and says capsule is ‘full of grins’
My colleague Richard Luscombe, who is covering the mission from Florida, has more of the first reaction we heard from the returned astronauts.
“And splashdown. Crew 9 back on Earth. Nick, Aleksandr, Butch and Suni, on behalf of SpaceX, welcome home,” a voice from mission control said.
“What a ride. I see a capsule full of grins, ear to ear,” Nicholas Hague, the third American on board, replied.
We’ll have more from Richard soon.
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