A pod of dolphins were seen swimming near the SpaceX Dragon Capsule after it splashed down in the waters off Florida’s Gulf Coast on Tuesday, March 18. NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov returned to Earth, splashing down off Tallahassee, at 5:57 pm EDT, NASA said. Hague and Gorbunov had been at the International Space Station for 171 days after arriving there on September, 29, 2024, while Williams and Wilmore spent 286 days in space after docking on June 6, 2024.
This video, which was part of NASA’s livestreamed coverage, shows dolphins in the water near the Dragon Capsule, ahead of it being lifted onto the recovery vessel. “The unplanned welcome crew! Crew-9 had some surprise visitors after splashing down this afternoon,” NASA’s Johnson Space Center wrote to X. Credit: NASA’s Johnson Space Center via Storyful Video Transcript That is they're working on top of the dragon capsule.
Earlier we saw that person performing safety checks. Now we can see some harnessing being placed around the capsule. This harnessing is what will be used to lift the dragon capsule out of the water and onto the recovery vessel.
Wow, we got a cute little pod of dolphins. It wasn't just one or two. I mean that water just looks beautiful.
We had ideal uh splashdown parameters today. Obviously wave height near a concern. Um, the weather is beautiful as Jayden mentioned in the 60s, sunny.
That is they're working on top of th.
