---
title: "SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Spacecraft Splashes Down in the Atlantic"
description: "## Welcome Home"
date: "2019-03-08"
modified: "2019-03-08"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/spacex-crew-dragon-spacecraft-land-atlantic"
categories:
  - "Crew Dragon"
  - "Space"
  - "SpaceX"
tags:
  - "commercial space travel"
  - "crew dragon"
  - "iss"
  - "SpaceX"
---

# SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Spacecraft Splashes Down in the Atlantic

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/spacexs-crew-dragon-spacecraft-splashes-down-in-the-atlantic.png>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Welcome Home

Mission Demo-1 is officially complete.

After successfully undocking from the International Space Station in the early morning hours and burning through Earth's atmosphere, SpaceX's passenger spacecraft slowly descended back down to Earth, before safely splashing down into the Atlantic Ocean — and right on schedule at 8:45 am EST.

https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1104016648959221760

## The Descent

Crew Dragon's descent was slowed thanks to four large parachutes it deployed once it re-entered Earth's atmosphere.

Astronauts loaded roughly 300 pounds (136 kg) of cargo from the ISS into the spacecraft on Thursday to send back down to Earth.

SpaceX [successfully launched](<https://futurism.com/spacex-crew-dragon-launch-demo-1>) the spacecraft on Saturday. It marks the first time a passenger spacecraft launched from American soil to the ISS — and returned safely back down to Earth — since the end of NASA's Space Shuttle program in 2011.

## Mission Accomplished

SpaceX's Crew Dragon docked itself, with no robotic arm required, to an open port of the International Space Station early Sunday morning. It then spent five days docked to the station while astronauts checked out the inside of what could one day become their ride back home.

A lot could've gone wrong. The cargo Dragon variant featured a different parachute system and had a differently shaped hull.

"I see hypersonic re-entry as probably my greatest concern," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk [said](<https://www.space.com/spacex-crew-dragon-earth-return-challenging.html>) during a post-launch press event on Saturday.

In July, SpaceX is hoping to send the Crew Dragon capsule back into space — but this time [with NASA astronauts](<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-03/spacex-notches-next-step-in-race-with-boeing-to-crewed-flights>) Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on board.

**READ MORE:**

**More on Crew Dragon:** [*Expert: SpaceX Just Made Russia’s Space Program “Null and Void”*](<https://futurism.com/spacex-roscosmos-space-program-null-void>)

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)