Space Station Crew Return in First Nighttime Splashdown Since 1960s

Four astronauts from the International Space Station returned to Earth inside a SpaceX Dragon capsule early on May 2, making the first nighttime splashdown since the Apollo era of the 1960s.

Video here shows parachutes deploying for the autonomous capsule’s final descent.

The Crew Dragon Resilience was carrying astronauts Shannon Walker, Victor Glover and Mike Hopkins of the US, and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi.

The last splashdown to be carried out at night was for the Apollo 8 mission in 1968, NASA said. Credit: NASA via Storyful