UPDATE: Here's some video of the astronauts' space capsule being pulled from the Gulf.
#ICYMI Check out #CoastGuard B-roll footage of this morning's @NASA #SpaceX Crew-1 mission spacecraft recovery. The @USCG asked the public to #stayback, and ensured mariners did not enter the splash down area to ensure everyone's safety. Welcome home! pic.twitter.com/urcZ9RRbMO
— USCG Heartland (@USCGHeartland) May 2, 2021
The U.S. Coast Guard was part of a team that safely recovered the astronauts' capsule from the first US splashdown of returning astronauts in the dar since Apollo 8 in 1968.
A post on the U.S. Coast Guard's Twitter account included a picture of the operation:
#ICYMI The @USCG crews working alongside @NASA, @usairforce, @SpaceForceDoD & commercial spaceflight ops were able to #safely recover the astronauts’ capsule from the water in the #GulfofMexico #Ready, #Relevant, #Responsive pic.twitter.com/MoxdV5TgIt
— USCG Heartland (@USCGHeartland) May 2, 2021
The Coast Guard enforced a safety zone around the operation, and SpaceX and NASA pulled the capsule from the Gulf.
According to the Associated Press, Elon Musk’s company targeted the predawn hours of Sunday to bring back three NASA astronauts and one from Japan, after dangerously high wind scuttled a pair of earlier attempts.
The astronauts — only the second crew to fly SpaceX — departed the International Space Station on Saturday night aboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule that carried them up last November. They aimed for a splashdown 6 1/2 hours later, around 3 a.m. in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Panama City, Florida, the AP reports.
The Coast Guard told mariners to stay back from the recovery site during recovery operations of the spacecraft, and established a 10-nautical-mile safety zone around the expected splashdown location to ensure safety for the public and for those involved in the recovery operations, as well as the crew aboard the returning spacecraft.
