Inspiration4 crew returns to Earth by ditching off the coast of Florida

ORLANDO, Florida. – After spending three days in orbit around Earth, SpaceX’s Inspiration4 crew returned to Earth after landing off the coast of Florida on Saturday night.

The a fully civilian crew returned to Earth in the Atlantic Ocean at 7:06 p.m., making them the first Dragon crew to land in the Atlantic.

The spacecraft was parachuted into the ocean near where their flight began earlier this week. The four were the first space travelers to complete their flight in the Atlantic from Apollo 9 in 1969, according to the Associated Press.

SpaceX put Inspiration4 into a 363-mile orbit after Wednesday night’s launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, 100 miles higher than the International Space Station. During the crew’s first day in space, SpaceX said it circled the earth more than 15 times and completed its first round of scientific research.

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The day before Inspiration4 returned, the US Coast Guard tweeted that it was establishing a danger and warning zone.

[TIMELINE: Here’s what will happen as Inspiration4 returns to Earth]

Inspiration4 marked the launch of the first fully civilian crew and a first in a manned space flight Wednesday night when it took off from Kennedy Space Center.

SpaceX was mapped by billionaire businessman Jared Isaacman to launch the Inspiration4 mission on a Falcon 9 rocket sending a special edition Crew Dragon spacecraft into a three-day orbit around Earth. Three other civilians joining Isaacman just learned of their spaceflight less than a year ago, including Hayley Arcenauex, doctor at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, geology professor Dr Sian Proctor and aerospace engineer Chris Sembroski.

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While the spacecraft is fully automated, the crew had to train for around seven months in case they had to manually take control of the Dragon spacecraft.