This browser does not support the Video element.
SpaceX Crew Dragon ‘Resilience’ completes first nighttime splashdown
After departing from the International Space Station the night prior, SpaceX Crew-1 returned safely to Earth very early on Sunday morning.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - SpaceX safely returned four astronauts from the International Space Station on Sunday, making the first U.S. crew splashdown in darkness since the Apollo 8 moonshot.
The Dragon capsule parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Panama City, Florida, just before 3 a.m., ending the second astronaut flight for Elon Musk’s company.
RELATED: SpaceX Crew Dragon 'Resilience' completes first nighttime splashdown
The astronauts, three American and one Japanese, flew back in the same capsule — named Resilience — in which they launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in November.
Photo from NASA
Photo from NASA
Photo from NASA
Photo from NASA
Photo from NASA
Photo from NASA
Photo from NASA
The 167-day mission was the longest for a crew capsule launching from the U.S. The previous record of 84 days was set by NASA’s final Skylab station astronauts in 1974.
WATCH: Return of the SpaceX Crew-1 Astronauts Aboard "Resilience"
Once finished with their medical checks on the ship, the astronauts will hop on a helicopter for the short flight to shore, then catch a plane straight to Houston for a reunion with their families.
Tune in to FOX 35 Orlando for the latest Central Florida news.
This browser does not support the Video element.