• 2 months ago
SpaceX Crew-8 astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps all with NASA and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida.

Credit: NASA
Transcript
00:00And it looks like we are starting to see the first crew member be extracted.
00:06I'm not sure if that will be Commander Matt Dominick or Mike Barrett, but it is typically
00:13one of those middle seats because they're easiest to reach.
00:22So again, you do see that crew member getting some assistance.
00:24I can't quite tell who it is just yet.
00:31I can only imagine what it feels like to have to stand up after spending nearly eight months
00:38in space and having to stand up for the first time with Earth's gravity.
00:43And that is NASA astronaut Matt Dominick, who is now out of the spacecraft.
00:49His very first space flight.
00:51Looks like we're getting some handshakes there.
00:54High fives all around.
01:20For those that have just recently joined us, you can see that the Dragon capsule carrying
01:25our crew eight members has successfully splashed down and been recovered from the splashdown
01:33site off the coast of Pensacola, Florida.
01:36We have just seen the egress or exit of Commander Matt Dominick, who was seated in one of the
01:45two center seats.
01:47We can see so we're standing by for the egress of the other three crew members.
01:53And on your screen there, some of the recovery team and NASA folks there assisting with the
02:00egress.
02:01As we mentioned, we, you know, just standard protocol.
02:04We always help individuals coming back from long duration spaceflight.
02:09We always help them give them some assistance back to the medical base.
02:13So I can only imagine that it feels like 100 elephants standing on your shoulders as
02:19you have to stand up.
02:21This particular mission was in space for 235 days, 232 of them on station.
02:31And this ended up being the longest duration mission that Crew Dragon has ever performed.
02:38So kind of a cool first there.
02:42And the longest U.S. spacecraft flight ever, whether that was through the shuttle program,
02:47Apollo, Mercury, Gemini.
02:49So that's a fun fact.
02:54And so it looks like they're working now to extract the next crew member.
02:58So we'll stand by to see who it is.
03:01But I do expect that it would be NASA astronaut Mike Barrett.
03:06But we'll confirm that just momentarily.
03:13In addition to the individual standing around the outside, there's also a recovery team
03:18member inside the capsule assisting with the egress.
03:25And that is NASA astronaut Mike Barrett.
03:28This is the, he's the veteran on this spaceflight.
03:32The other three flyers on board, Crew 8, were all rookies.
03:43And so in total, Mike Barrett has spent 447 days in space.
03:48Saw some excitement there.
03:58Yes.
04:11So remaining inside Endeavour is NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut
04:16Alexander Gerbanken.
04:18So we'll see who comes out next.
04:20You do see those footrests as they are removed from the spacecraft to give a little more
04:24space for recovery personnel to assist the crew members out.
04:29I think it looks like we might be getting Jeanette Epps next.
04:47So they're continuing to work to get the next crew member out.
05:12And you can really see there's quite a few folks on the recovery vessel.
05:16This really speaks to all those that are involved with helping to make a mission successful.
05:21It's the recovery boat personnel, the folks in Mission Control Hawthorne and in Houston,
05:26as well as all around the world, those that support the International Space Station.
05:31It really is a huge team effort to have a successful mission like this.
05:38And in fact, there's 44 people on the recovery vessel, Megan, to help support tonight's splashdown.
05:45Once again, we're standing by for the egress of our final two crew members.
06:03Yeah, it looks like Jeanette, NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps will be the next one to exit.
06:11Due to the limited space inside Dragon capsule, it's pretty normal to have the two individuals
06:22seated in the center seats.
06:24So the pilot and commander, it's pretty normal to have them egress first as it helps give
06:35a little bit more working room there within the capsule for the crew members and the recovery
06:41team members.
06:53And I do believe that is NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps, who is next out.
07:00Yep, Jeanette Epps was the next one out.
07:04So Alexander Grubinken will be next.
07:06Again, this was her first space flight.
07:09Some quick waves.
07:39And we are starting to see Alexander Grubinken be extracted from the spacecraft as well.
08:03And thumbs up.
08:12And we now have all four crew members outside of Crew Dragon Endeavor following their 235
08:20days in space.
08:22Some cheers and excitement for Crew 8.
08:25That's great to see.

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