SpaceX spacecraft lands in Gulf of Mexico after two-month voyage

The SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft is seen as it lands with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley onboard in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida, U.S., August 2, 2020. Photo: NASA via Reuters.

The Crew Dragon SpaceX spacecraft is back on Earth after the first splashdown return in 45 years. Nasa astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley landed in the ocean, off the coast of Florida on Sunday, after a 19-hour journey from the International Space Station. A private boat approached Crew Dragon and was told to leave the area. Miriam Kramer tweeted: "As SpaceX is working to recover Bob and Doug from the capsule, a private boat drives by waving a Trump flag. One of the NASA TV announcers suggests that maybe in the future they shouldn't publicize their landing zones."

The pair made history on May 30 when they became the first people to launch into low-Earth orbit on a commercial spacecraft, built by SpaceX. Their mission, named Demo-2, also marked the first time Nasa had launched astronauts from US soil in nine years. SpaceX's astronaut carrier, the Crew Dragon, landed in the water off Pensacola, western Florida.