Update 2:50 pm EDT: Everything went as planned, with SpaceX and NASA reporting a successful splashdown. The astronauts radioed in from inside the capsule that they were feeling good. A recovery team has begun the process of extracting the crew from the capsule, while the astronauts run some final checks.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon “Endeavour” is on its way back to Earth with astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley. If all goes well, the splashdown will mark the completion of a successful first flight of the commercial crew era.
The vehicle is scheduled to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico at 2:48 p.m. EDT today (Aug. 2) after a harrowing drop through the planet’s atmosphere. The Crew Dragon will begin its fall to Earth at 17,500 mph (28,200 km/h), then use its heat shield to slow to 350 mph (560 km/h) before deploying parachutes for the final part of the descent. NASA and SpaceX picked a re-entry site to dodge Tropical Storm Isaias, which is battering the Florida coastline not far away.