On Thursday, May 6, four SpaceX astronauts aboard the Dragon capsule successfully came back to Earth after their exploration in the International Space Station (ISS) which lasted for more than 160 days.
There are many words to describe how they plunged into the ocean for their official homecoming from space.
How SpaceX Astronauts Describe Their Return to the Planet
PANAMA CITY, FL. - MAY 02: In this NASA handout, NASA astronaut Victor Glover is helped out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship after he, NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Shannon Walker, and Victor Glover, landed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Panama City, Florida, Sunday, May 2, 2021. NASAs SpaceX Crew-1 mission was the first crew rotation flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket with astronauts to the International Space Station as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Program.
The feat that the Dragon capsule crew could be considered as one of the biggest accomplishments of humanity in terms of space exploration. On early Sunday, May 1, the group managed to land during night time in the ocean, an operation that NASA did in the past after more than 50 years.
According to Victor Glover, one of the Crew-1 astronauts, the SpaceX Crew Dragon's return from the ISS came to the point that he was feeling "really heavy" so he just let himself inhale some air.
Glover also looked back to the cartoons that he watched in the past, and he used it as a reference of his face that sagged down when he was aboard the Dragon capsule to the Earth.
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Moreover, the first Black astronaut to reach the ISS continued that he was expecting for the journey to be "dynamic" and challenging," but it turned out to be less exciting for his expectation yet it was enjoyable during the SpaceX flight.
It is true that when in space, people could experience a heavy feeling in the chest due to the aftermath of the acceleration. That's what Glover has felt throughout the journey, The Strait Times reported.
Yet, it seems that he was fully satisfied with the "launch and entry" of the Dragon capsule together with his other three companions.
PANAMA CITY, FL. - MAY 02: In this NASA handout, NASA astronaut Shannon Walker is helped out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship after he, NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Shannon Walker, and Victor Glover, landed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Panama City, Florida, Sunday, May 2, 2021. NASAs SpaceX Crew-1 mission was the first crew rotation flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket with astronauts to the International Space Station as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Program.
Since 2011, the space shuttle program stopped, and NASA has been finding ways to continue what it has started so it decided to collaborate with SpaceX to relive the program.
SpaceX Astronaut Says Civilians Could Experience the Same Feeling One Day
PANAMA CITY, FL. - MAY 02: In this NASA handout, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi is helped out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship after he, NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Shannon Walker, and Victor Glover, landed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Panama City, Florida, Sunday, May 2, 2021. NASAs SpaceX Crew-1 mission was the first crew rotation flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket with astronauts to the International Space Station as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Program
In a report by MSN, another SpaceX astronaut who rode the Dragon, Shannon Walker, said that the landing was "interesting" because no one has expected what's ahead of them. However, she pointed out that there was a "soft" feeling during the splashdown.
Walker added that there is a lesser time spent on the Dragon when a person is on a parachute compared to when a person is under the Soyuz.
As the commander of the SpaceX flight, Walker believes that the Dragon project will have an expansion in the future by allowing the non-astronaut civilians to take part in the space voyage.
PANAMA CITY, FL. - MAY 02: In this NASA handout, NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins is helped out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship after he, NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Shannon Walker, and Victor Glover, landed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Panama City, Florida, Sunday, May 2, 2021. NASAs SpaceX Crew-1 mission was the first crew rotation flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket with astronauts to the International Space Station as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Program.
According to Mike Hopkins, he is confident that the "space tourists" can withstand the harsh reentry rides.
"After the civilians go through some centrifuge training "it's not going to be completely unique to them," he added.
Meanwhile, Soichi Noguchi, the only Asian astronaut in the Crew-1 group, described their landing as "pretty smooth" and a "great feeling." However, he perceived a "minimal" impact after the splashdown upon detecting the waves in the ocean.
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Written by Joseph Henry
