May 3, 2021 - 11:40 AMT
SpaceX Crew-1 mission returns four astronauts back to Earth

The four astronauts aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule “Resilience” safely returned to Earth on Sunday, May 2, splashing down in parachutes landing in the Gulf of Mexico after a record-setting mission to the International Space Station, CNBC reports.

The astronauts spent more than five months in space for the Crew-1 mission, the longest-ever duration for a crew launched in an American-built spacecraft.

SpaceX mission control welcomed the astronauts with some humor after they touched down: “We welcome you back to planet Earth and thanks for flying SpaceX. For those of you enrolled in our frequent flyer program, you’ve earned 68 million miles on this voyage.”

“SpaceX, ‘Resilience’ is back on planet Earth, and we’ll take those miles – are they transferable?” NASA astronaut and spacecraft commander Mike Hopkins joked moments after landing.

NASA astronauts Hopkins, Shannon Walker, and Victor Glover and Japan’s Soichi Noguchi reached the space station via the Dragon capsule after launching in the capsule on top of a Falcon 9 rocket last November.