NASA astronauts aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley have splashed down safely in the Gulf of Mexico Sunday for the first time in a commercially built and operated American crew spacecraft, returning from the International Space Station to complete a test flight that marks a new era in human spaceflight.

Daily Current Affairs Quiz 2020

Key-Points

After a two-month trip to International Space Station, the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour carrying NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley returned to Earth.

It was the first splashdown by U.S. astronauts in 45 years, with the first commercially built and operated spacecraft to carry people to and from orbit. The return clears the way for another SpaceX crew launch as early as next month and possible tourist flights next year.

The splashdown is the first water landing since 1975, when the NASA astronauts on the joint Apollo-Soyuz test mission returned home.