LIVE COVERAGE: SpaceX Dragon crew returns to Earth

Welcome to our live coverage of the SpaceX Dragon crew return to Earth! This is an exciting event that has caught the attention of space enthusiasts all over the globe. After spending over five months in orbit, NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi are on their way back to Earth inside the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. The capsule undocked from the International Space Station on Saturday evening, and is scheduled to splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The journey back to Earth is expected to take around six-and-a-half hours, with the four crew members experiencing a fiery descent through the Earth’s atmosphere, followed by the deployment of parachutes to slow the spacecraft down before it lands on the water. Once the capsule has been recovered, the astronauts will undergo a medical checkup and will be flown back to Houston on a NASA plane.

This event marks the first nighttime splashdown of a U.S. crewed spacecraft since Apollo 8, and is a significant step forward for the SpaceX mission. The Crew Dragon spacecraft, developed and operated by SpaceX under contract with NASA, is capable of ferrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station, which is a crucial part of the agency’s goal to develop a sustainable commercial space industry.

The return of the SpaceX Dragon crew highlights the ongoing progress being made in space exploration, which has far-reaching implications for the future of science and technology. It is inspiring to see such innovative and groundbreaking developments taking place, and we look forward to bringing you more news and insights as the journey to the stars continues.