---
title: "Watch Astronaut Do a Victory Dance After Climbing Out of Charred SpaceX Capsule"
description: "When SpaceX's crews pulled the Crew Dragon capsule out of the water on Sunday, NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins did a little dance."
date: "2021-05-03"
modified: "2021-05-03"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/astronaut-dance-spacex-capsule"
categories:
  - "Space"
  - "SpaceX"
tags:
  - "crew dragon"
  - "international space station"
  - "iss"
  - "NASA"
  - "SpaceX"
  - "the digest"
---

# Watch Astronaut Do a Victory Dance After Climbing Out of Charred SpaceX Capsule

![When SpaceX's crews pulled the Crew Dragon capsule out of the water on Sunday, NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins did a little dance.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/astronaut-dance-spacex-capsule.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Astronaut Dance

NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins returned from a lengthy stint on board the International Space Station inside a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule over the weekend.

When SpaceX's crews pulled him out of the capsule, Hopkins did a little dance, as caught by the space company's livestream, around the 9:27 mark.

https://youtu.be/sE1WJ0wUjaw?t=564

## Safe Return

Hopkins was the first to be recovered from the capsule. The astronaut was the commander of NASA and SpaceX's Crew-1 mission, which [kicked off back in November](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-nasa-crew-dragon>).

Hopkins safely returned from the space station alongside NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Shannon Walker, as well as Japan's space agency's Soichi Noguchi, on Sunday morning.

## Good to Be Back

The team, part of NASA and SpaceX's Crew-1 mission, returned after spending over five months on board the ISS. The mission set a new record as the longest time spent in space by a crew that launched inside a US-built spacecraft.

It's the second time a Crew Dragon capsule has safely returned humans back down to Earth. Last year, NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley returned after spending three months on board the station.

This weekend's return also marked the first time astronauts [splashed down in the ocean in the dark of night](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/crew-dragon-astronauts-stranded-in-space-weather-will-splashdown-dark>) since the completion of the Apollo 8 mission more than 50 years ago.

**More on Crew-1:** *[Crew Dragon Astronauts Stranded in Space by Weather Will Splashdown in Dark](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/crew-dragon-astronauts-stranded-in-space-weather-will-splashdown-dark>)*

## 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>)