SpaceX’s Crew Dragon carrying NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley splashed down safely in the Gulf of Mexico today, August 2nd, for the first time in a commercially built and operated American crew spacecraft.
County 10 shared in an earlier post that both Behnken and Hurley are two-time NOLS grads. The Lander-based nonprofit and worldwide outdoor educator has partnered with NASA for many years.
They made the historic launch at the end of May and spent 64 days in space.
“Behnken and Hurley’s return was the first splashdown for American astronauts since Thomas Stafford, Vance Brand, and Donald “Deke” Slayton landed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Hawaii on July 24, 1975, at the end of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project,” according to a NASA press release.