"We're driving down costs for low-Earth orbit; we're commercialising low-Earth orbit… with human activities where Nasa can be a customer. And then we can use the tax-payer resources that are bestowed upon us to do exploration, to go further, to go back to the Moon sustainably," said Nasa chief Jim Bridenstine.<doc-sep>SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule returned safely to Earth early Friday, wrapping up its inaugural mission to the International Space Station and signaling that the U.S. may soon be able to ferry astronauts to and from space without relying on Russian spacecraft. The uncrewed capsule splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean, off the east coast of Florida, at 8:45 a.m. ET after spending almost a week at the space station. The spacecraft undocked from the orbiting outpost Friday at 2:32 a.m. ET to begin its descent. SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule splashed into the Atlantic Ocean after completing its test flight for NASA. NASA "This is an amazing achievement in American history," NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said from the space agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "These are all capabilities that are leading to a day where we are launching American astronauts on American rockets from American soil." The Crew Dragon capsule was lofted into orbit March 2 by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The flight was a crucial test of the new spacecraft, a seven-passenger vehicle that SpaceX has been developing for the past five years. "It's a great day for the nation, for SpaceX, for NASA — really for the world," Benjamin Reed, director of commercial crew mission management at SpaceX, said after the capsule's splashdown was confirmed. The Hawthorne, California-based company has been flying robotic supply missions to the space station since 2012. For this mission, the capsule was loaded with 450 pounds of cargo and a spacesuit-clad test dummy named “Ripley” after Ellen Ripley, the fictional character played by Sigourney Weaver in the 1979 film “Alien.” NASA is expected to schedule one more uncrewed flight of the Crew Dragon capsule to test the spacecraft's emergency abort system. After that, the space agency could authorize a Crew Dragon flight to the space station with two NASA astronauts onboard. The U.S. hasn’t had a way to carry humans into orbit since 2011, when NASA retired its space shuttle fleet. Since then, astronauts have flown to and from the space station aboard Russia’s Soyuz capsules mounted atop Soyuz rockets. To end its reliance on Russia — a situation that many in the spaceflight community considered an embarrassment — NASA in 2014 awarded SpaceX and Boeing a combined $6.8-billion contract to build a pair of spacecraft to fill that gap. Boeing could conduct the first uncrewed test flight of its CST-100 Starliner capsule as soon as April. Want more stories about spaceflight? FOLLOW NBC NEWS MACH ON TWITTER, FACEBOOK, AND INSTAGRAM.<doc-sep>SpaceX's historic first Crew Dragon test flight returns to Earth early Friday (March 8), and lucky U.S. East Coasters may be able to see it in action. Those living in parts of the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, the Piedmont region and the southeastern coast of the U.S. may be able to catch a glimpse of the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule Friday morning as it re-enters Earth's atmosphere with a fiery trail that will end over the Atlantic Ocean a few hundred miles east of Florida. The uncrewed spacecraft launched March 2 and docked with the International Space Station March 3. If the capsule safely returns to Earth, it will pave the way for crewed SpaceX missions to the space station. Related: SpaceX's Crew Dragon Demo-1 Test Flight in Pictures According to NASA's press kit , "Crew Dragon will autonomously undock from the International Space Station on Friday, March 8, at approximately 2:30 a.m. EST [0730 GMT]. About five hours after Dragon departs the space station it will conduct its deorbit burn, which lasts up to 15 minutes. It takes about 35 to 40 minutes for Dragon to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and splash down in the Atlantic Ocean, which is currently targeted for approximately 8:45 a.m. EST [1345 GMT]." There has been a lively discussion on the satellite observer Seesat Internet List about spotting the bright plasma trail created by the Dragon capsule as it rushes through the atmosphere, quite possibly becoming bright enough to be seen even through the light of day. Dragon's final ground track runs across North America, from approximately just north of Vancouver Island on the Pacific Coast; southeast to Charleston, South Carolina, on the East Coast; and out to sea over the open waters of the Atlantic. Because this is the first time this re-entry vehicle has traveled this particular course, there is some uncertainty about what might be seen. It appears that the best odds of seeing a possible fireball caused by the Dragon capsule will be for those within about 100 miles (160 kilometers) of a line extending from central Kentucky to the South Carolina coast, near Charleston, from about 8:42 to 8:44 a.m. EST. Observers might even be able to hear the re-entering Dragon by virtue of a sonic boom, which would create a distinct "thump" as the vehicle speeds by. The best chances to hear a boom for this to happen will likely be near the South Carolina coast. If you live farther to the northwest — from roughly central Iowa, to central Illinois and southern Indiana — it's worth a try to spot the beginning of the Dragon re-entry. In the Central time zone, cast your gaze upward between about 7:34 and 7:37 a.m. The Dragon capsule weighs approximately 10 tons (9 metric tons). In his book "Observing Earth Satellites" (Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., 1983), author Desmond King-Hele wrote: "When a two-ton satellite enters the atmosphere, usually at a speed close to 8 km (5 miles) per second, it possesses prodigious energy of motion, roughly equal to that of 50,000 cars all traveling at 100 km (62 miles) per hour. Nearly all that energy is converted to heat and light as the satellite plunges into the thicker air. It usually begins to glow at a height of about 90 km (55 miles) and continues its firework display down to a height of 30 km (20 miles). By then it has lost most of its initial velocity, and any remaining fragments begin to fall at a steep angle. People who have seen a satellite burn up all agree that it is a spectacular sight." Sadly, as of this writing, the latest weather forecasts suggest rather cloudy skies across much of the potential visibility zone on Friday morning.<doc-sep>
SpaceX's first Crew Dragon capsule to fly to the International Space Station is all packed up and ready to return to Earth, after astronauts on board the orbiting lab closed the hatch spacecraft's today (March 7). The station crew closed the hatch to Crew Dragon at 12:39 p.m. EST (1739 GMT), but not before packing more than 300 lbs. (136 kilograms) of gear aboard to send home — and snapping a few last-minute photos inside the space capsule. The capsule had carried 400 lbs. (181 kg) up to the station when it arrived earlier this month. The capsule is scheduled to undock tomorrow (March 8) at 2:31 a.m. EST (0731 GMT) in a procedure that you can watch live at Space.com beginning at 2 a.m. EST (0700 GMT), courtesy of NASA TV. The broadcast will resume at 7:30 a.m. (1230 GMT) to cover the capsule's landing. Related: SpaceX Dragon Crew Demo-1 Test Flight: Full Coverage Astronauts on board the International Space Station closed the hatch of the first Crew Dragon capsule to visit the orbiting laboratory on March 7, 2019. (Image credit: NASA TV) Crew Dragon 's safe return to Earth poses perhaps the most substantial challenge of the entire Demo-1 flight, which is designed to prove that the system is safe enough to carry astronauts. If all goes well, the capsule will deploy its parachutes and float to touch down on the Atlantic Ocean near Florida, where a ship will fetch it and return it to land. The next hurdle in SpaceX's quest for human spaceflight will be a successful uncrewed abort test, which will test the escape engines that would fire to carry astronauts to safety if anything were to go wrong . That test is currently scheduled for June. The trio of astronauts currently aboard the International Space Station posed for photos on the Crew Dragon before closing the hatch on March 7, 2019. (Image credit: NASA TV) SpaceX won't be the only company to dock a human-rated capsule with the space station; Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is scheduled to conduct a similar uncrewed test flight no earlier than April.