NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 Dragon Spacecraft Arrives in Gulf of Mexico

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 Dragon Spacecraft Arrives in Gulf of Mexico

NASA astronaut Kayla Barron is helped out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft onboard the SpaceX Shannon recovery ship after she and NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer landed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Tampa, Florida, Friday, May 6, 2022. Maurer, Marshburn, Chari, and Barron returned after 177 days in space as part of Expeditions 66 and 67 onboard the International Space Station (ISS). 

NASA astronaut Raja Chari greets friends after being helped out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft onboard the SpaceX Shannon recovery ship.

NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn greets friends after being helped out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft onboard the SpaceX Shannon recovery ship.

European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer is helped out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft onboard the SpaceX Shannon recovery ship.

From left to right, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer, NASA astronauts Tom Marshburn, Raja Chari, and Kayla Barron, are seen inside the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft onboard the SpaceX Shannon recovery ship shortly after having landed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Tampa, Florida.

Crew-3 received medical checks before the NASA astronauts took a helicopter ride to board a plane for Houston, Texas. Now that his mission has ended, ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer will return to the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, where he will participate in post-flight debriefings, provide samples for scientific evaluation and readapt to Earth’s gravity with the support of ESA experts. 

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Image Credits: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani

Image Date: May 6, 2022

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