The two American astronauts who recently completed a historic space missy have described details about their electrifying return to Earth.
On May 30, NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley became the first astronauts to launch from American soil since the last US earth in 2011.
The launch was historic because it was the first time a private company had launched astronauts into orbit. American company SpaceX built and operated the Crew Dragon capsule which carried the astronauts to the International Space Station.
Behnken and Hurley ended their 64-day mission on August 3, when they spat down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida.
The two recently shared their thoughts on the mission and the flight home during a news conference at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
It was the first splashdown landing for NASA astronauts in 45 years. SpaceX said it had provided Behnken and Hurley with video and audio of past splashdowns so they would not be surprised during the flight.
Behnken described the excitement the two experienced in the very last minutes of the journey home. ‘Once we descended a little in the atmosphere, the Dragon really, he came alive, ‘he said.
Behnken spoke about the moment the Crew Dragon rocket began firing thrusters to carry the spaceship as it passed through the Earth’s atmosphere.
He said the thrusters leading the space were shooting almost continuously. ‘It does not sound like a machine, it sounds like an animal coming through the atmosphere, with everything puffs that happens from the thrusters and the atmospheric sound. ”
The astronauts experienced 4.2 Gs – or 4.2 times the force of the Earth’s gravity – when they landed.
When Crew Dragon slowed to about 563 kilometers per hour, the first of two sets of parachutes was deployed, causing the capsule to slow down even more. Behnken described that period as feeling “completely like hitting the back of the chair with a baseball bat.”
Hurley said he was “almost kind of speechless” about how well the capsule performed. He called the whole mission “flawless” – as perfect.
A recovery team awaited the splashdown of the capsule off the coast of Florida. The biggest surprise of the mission came just after the splashdown. Nearly 25 pleasure boats rode to the capsule, ignoring requests from the public to stay away. This put themselves, the astronauts and the recovery team at risk.
Hurley said the capsule windows were badly burned due to re-entry, so he and Behnken could not see the other boats in the area.
He added that although he understood that the people on the boats just wanted to be part of the event, he was concerned about safety. “We’ll have to look at it, because it can just (not happen again) happen like it did before,” Hurley said.
Behnken said he does not think it would be a good idea for people to try to get close to future splashdown landings. ‘We take extreme precautionary measures to make it safe and we do so for a reason. ”
I’m Bryan Lynn.
Reuters and The Associated Press reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learn English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.
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Be in this story
missy – n. an important task, usually to travel around somewhere
spat part – v. land a manned spaceship in the ocean
capsule – n. the part of a spaceship that humans live in
excitement – n. a feeling of being very happy and enthusiastic
come down – v. to move or to go down
thruster – n. a small rocket engine on a spaceship
puff – n. a short, explosive burst of wind
precaution – n. done something to prevent bad things from happening in the future
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