Much of the world watched intently as private company SpaceX's first flight into space took off. It was a big event for several reasons. Astronauts Douglas Gerald Hurley and Robert Louis Behnken were the first astronauts since 2011 to fly into space from American soil in an American vehicle. In 2011, the last three spaceships (Atlantis, Discovery, Endeavor) were decommissioned in the United States, so the astronauts flew into space from Kazakhstan on ships built by Russia. After its launch, Crew Dragon successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) after a few hours.
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However, the question arose as to how long it would take for the astronauts to return. The key in this case was how the ship's solar panels would work. According to reports, everything is going smoothly, so Crew Dragon should detach from the ISS on August 1 and land on Earth the next day. The ship will enter the Earth's atmosphere and, with the help of parachutes, should land safely in the Atlantic Ocean. It probably goes without saying how important this step is for SpaceX. The exact time of the return is not yet known, but it should be sometime just after midnight our time on August 2nd. It is worth adding that the return date is only tentative, as NASA representatives added that there is still a lot of work to be done, indirectly hinting that a lot can still change.
