SpaceX Capsule Carrying NASA Astronauts Likely To Return To Earth On August 2

WASHINGTON: After spending two months in orbit, NASA astronauts in SpaceX's first crewed flight who travelled to the International Space Station in May are expected to return to Earth on August 2. NASA announced it on Friday, July 17.

U.S. astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will gear up for the final benchmark test of SpaceX's so-called Demo-2 mission.

It is a coordinated splashdown somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean.

It is NASA's first crewed mission from the US in nearly 10 years.

Behnken is gearing up for his final spacewalk on July 21 ahead of prepping with Hurley to depart the space station, NASA has said.

The NASA spokesperson said that weather forecasts will be calculated for the time and location of Crew Dragon's splashdown. The date has however not been confirmed.  

According to a report by an international news agency,  NASA astronauts had to hitch rides into orbit aboard Russia's Soyuz spacecraft. The US space shuttle program had ended in 2011.