Two Nasa astronauts returned to Earth in SpaceX capsule 'Dragon'. They return in dramatic and retro-style splashdown into the Gulf of Mexico to close out an unprecedented test flight by Elon Musk's SpaceX company. Test pilots Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken rode the SpaceX Dragon capsule back to Earth less than a day after departing the International Space Station and two months after blasting off from Florida. It was the first splashdown by US astronauts in 45 years, with the first commercially built and operated spacecraft to carry people to and from orbit. The last time Nasa astronauts returned from space to water was on July 24, 1975, in the Pacific, the scene of most splashdowns, to end a joint US-Soviet mission known as Apollo-Soyuz.