A “soft” landing and a “unique experience” slightly different from the landings on Russian Soyuz ships: the astronauts returned from the International Space Station on Sunday. The SpaceX company on Thursday described its return to Earth, with more than 160 days of space.
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“At one point I was thinking to myself, breathe. Inspiration. Because I felt so heavy, ”said American Victor Glover, one of the crew’s four astronauts. “Cartoon characters’ faces turn upside down when confronted with G-Force (acceleration).”
This is the first regular mission undertaken by the company of billionaire Elon Musk.
The astronauts aboard the Crew Dragon capsule, which landed at sea outside Florida overnight from Saturday to Sunday.
“I expected it to be such an experiment, and when it finally happened, it was a little less than I thought it would be,” added Victor Glover in a hurry. The weight of the acceleration was concentrated on the “chest”, he described, “making it difficult to breathe.”
But “flying and coming back are such special experiences,” he said.
AFP
“The impact was minimal and you will feel the waves shortly after landing,” said Japanese Sochi Noguchi. “We’l going back to the blue planet (…). It’s a great feeling.”
NASA has entered into an agreement with SpaceX to launch astronauts back into space from American soil, which has not been possible since 2011 with the end of spacecraft. Until now, they have been forced to board Russian Soyuz ships landing on dry land.
“It was fun going down the water because none of us knew what to expect,” said Shannon Walker of the United States. “In my view, it was a little softer than reaching the shore.”
Soon, professional astronauts will be stationed at Dragon for space tourism missions. Asked the astronauts: Can these ordinary people cope with the re-entry into the atmosphere of this vehicle?
American Mike Hopkins said: “I think they can take it well.
The first one raised his hand when asked if they were ready to go. Only Victor Glover did not.
“I’m so happy to be on dry land and enjoy it for a while,” the second said with a big smile.
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