--- title: "Bored Inside Their Spacecraft, NASA Astronauts Made Prank Calls to Pass the Time" description: "Read more about how NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley made prank satellite phone calls from SpaceX while on their return to Earth." date: "2020-08-03" modified: "2020-08-11" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-astronauts-prank-phone-calls" categories: - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "crew dragon" - "NASA" - "SpaceX" - "the digest" --- # Bored Inside Their Spacecraft, NASA Astronauts Made Prank Calls to Pass the Time ![While NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley were trapped inside SpaceX's Crew Dragon for hours, they made several prank calls to pass the time.]() *\Image: SpaceX\* ## Prank Calls While NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley [were bobbing in the Gulf of Mexico](), trapped inside SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule for hours on Sunday, they figured they'd pass the time by making several prank calls, [*The New York Times* reports](). https://twitter.com/wapodavenport/status/1290071632531189760 Hurley admitted at a press conference that the rollercoaster-like return journey through the Earth's atmosphere was "a lot to process," but joked that the two of them kept themselves busy while waiting inside the capsule by "making prank satellite phone calls to whoever we could get a hold of," as quoted by the *Times*. "Which was kind of fun, by the way." On social media, several NASA employees reported that they had been the recipients of the astronauts' prank calls. https://twitter.com/Enterprise_Flt/status/1290109580035457024 https://twitter.com/Astro_Megan/status/1290281974351896576 The astronaut also told reporters that the phone bill should be sent to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. ## Send Prayers Musk was relieved to see that both NASA astronauts made it back to the surface on Sunday after spending 62 days in space. "I’m not very religious, but I prayed for this one," Musk said during the press conference following splashdown. Sunday's landing completed SpaceX and NASA's Demo-2 mission, which also marked the first time a for-profit group has successfully launched human astronauts to the space station and back inside a commercial spacecraft. *Editor's note 8/4/20: Added social media posts by two NASA employees who said they had received the prank calls.* **READ MORE:** [‘Thanks for Flying SpaceX’: NASA Astronauts Safely Splash Down After Journey From Orbit]() \[*The New York Times*\] **More on the landing:** *[More Than a Dozen Private Boats Came Out to Greet SpaceX Astronauts After Splashdown]()* ## 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]()