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  Crew Dragon nears splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday. [credit:
  Bill Inglalls/NASA ]

They made it.

On Sunday afternoon a slightly charred spacecraft dropped out of the blue sky, and splashed down into a placid Gulf of Mexico. The safe return of NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken from orbit capped a nearly 64-day mission that proved the viability of a new spacecraft built by SpaceX, Crew Dragon. It was a complete success.

“This was an extraordinary day,” said Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, during a post-flight news conference. “It was an enormous relief after months of anxiety.”