Four astronauts returned to Earth on Monday (8/11) local time in SpaceX's Dragon capsule. They ended the mission after serving for 200 days on the International Space Station (ISS).
Their capsule streaked through the late night sky like a dazzling meteor before finally plunging into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, United States (US). The rescue ship team immediately moved to pick them up.
"On behalf of SpaceX, welcome to the home of Planet Earth," SpaceX Mission Control radioed from Southern California.
Their return paved the way for the launch of four of their successors in SpaceX capsules scheduled for Wednesday (10/11) evening US time. Initially, the new arrivals were scheduled to launch before the four previous astronauts arrived on Earth. But NASA changed the order due to bad weather and the astronaut's medical condition.
The team was also faced with technical problems. When they returned to Earth, they couldn't use the toilet because it was broken. This critical system is forbidden to use by four astronauts on the Crew-2 mission, once they leave the ISS for Earth.
This ban had to be issued because of the possibility of a urine leak in the toilet as detected on the Inspiration4 flight last September. SpaceX has since redesigned its toilets to avoid leaks on future flights.
As a result, this crew uses some kind of diaper or special underwear. This waste management device has long been used by astronauts to urinate while wearing space suits while on duty.