This is not a meteor. It’s a spacecraft.
SpaceX’s Crew-3 astronauts’ mission to Earth early Friday (May 6) was captured in epic photos as the crew wrapped up half a year on the International Space Station.
Both NASA and SpaceXwhich supplied Crew-3’s Dragon For the agency, the spacecraft snapped zigzagging into the atmosphere in the previous minutes Successful start At 12:43 a.m. EDT (0443 GMT), 176 days after they launched their mission.
The epic images show a meteor-like vehicle rapidly moving through the atmosphere with four people on board: Raja Chari, Tom Marshbourne and Kayla Barron, all NASAand Matthias Maurer with European Space Agency (European Space Agency).
Related: 8 ways SpaceX has changed spaceflight
NASA photographer Aubrey Gemignani captured the return of the Dragon capsule in several photos.
Above is one view of the capsule plunging into the atmosphere in the early hours of Friday.
Below is a broader view of SpaceX’s Crew-3 Dragon with the lights of the recovery ships visible below the image, including what appears to be a spotlight twinkling at night at the bottom right.
The returning Endurance spacecraft was visible in Mexico, Florida, and nearby areas, generating some social media posts from people who got up early (or stayed up late) to see the show.
The Dragon Capsule’s endurance return from Southeast Mexico (Villahermosa, Tabasco) #SpaceX #Dragon #ISS #NASA #Space pic.twitter.com/eLYiW289XVMay 6 2022
Standing on the shores of Clearwater Beach, I watched Crew Dragon and her crew of four cross the night sky on their journey home. Time to go back to the Space Coast for launch 🚀 #Crew3SpaceXNASA pic.twitter.com/b1KiuoC9YZMay 6 2022
In the minutes after the plane went down, the four astronauts gave “hello” to Earth after recovery officials arrived on the spacecraft.
While it typically takes about a day on our planet to fully recover from each day in space, astronauts should be able to resume many of their normal activities (such as showering, driving, and exercising) within a few weeks.
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