by Gina Martinez at The Daily Mail
SpaceX‘s first civilian crew has successfully returned to Earth after three days in space.
The Inspiration4 crew splashed downed in the Atlantic Ocean near Florida on Saturday night shortly after 7 pm, bringing an end to their historic three-day mission orbiting earth.
The Dragon capsule descended towards Earth on four chutes before gently landing in the water as the module floated on the surface of the Atlantic Ocean.
‘Your mission has shown the world that space is for all of us,’ SpaceX Mission Control radioed the crew.
‘Thanks so much SpaceX, it was a heck of a ride for us,’ mission commander Jared Isaacman responded.
And SpaceX founder Elon Musk tweeted: ‘Congratulations @Inspiration4x!!!’
The four crew members all safely made if off the capsule and boarded a helicopter to reunite with their families.
The Inspiration4 crew – Jared Isaacman, Hayley Arceneaux, Sian Proctor and Chris Sembroski – launched into space shortly after 8pm EST on Wednesday (1am BST on Thursday) on board a modified Crew Dragon module from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
It had a special glazed viewing capsule to let them gaze out over the Earth while in orbit.
The crew has shared pictures of their mission on Twitter, showing Jared Isaacman, Hayley Arceneaux, Sian Proctor and Chris Sembroski on board the Crew Dragon module.
Although this is not the first time civilians have travelled to space, Inspiration4 is the first mission manned solely by civilians…
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