CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX brought four astronauts home with a midnight splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday, capping the busiest month yet for Elon Musk’s taxi service.

The three U.S. astronauts and one German in the capsule were bobbing off the Florida coast, near Tampa, less than 24 hours after leaving the International Space Station. NASA expected to have them back in Houston later in the morning.

“That was a great ride,” said Raja Chari, the capsule commander. As for the reintroduction to gravity, he noted: “Only one complaint. These water bottles are super heavy.”

NASA’s Chari, Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron, and the European Space Agency’s Matthias Maurer, were out of the capsule within an hour of splashdown, waving and giving thumbs-up as they were hustled away on rolling chaises for medical checks.

Their departure from the space station Thursday was bittersweet, as they embraced the seven astronauts remaining there.

“It’s the end of a six-month mission, but I think the space dream lives on,” Maurer said.

SpaceX brought up their U.S. and Italian replacements last week, after completing a charter trip to the station for a trio of businessmen.

That amounts to two crew launches and two splashdowns in barely a month. Musk’s company has now launched 26 people into orbit in less than two years, since it started ferrying astronauts for NASA. Eight of those 26 were space tourists.

SpaceX’s William Gerstenmaier, a vice president, called it “a pretty exciting time.”

“Satellites are nice, but flying people are a little special and a little bit different, and the team here sure understands that,” he told reporters. “There’s a sense of relief and and a sense of accomplishment that you know you’ve done something good.”

NASA is more impressed than ever, given SpaceX’s hectic pace of late. The only problem of note in the latest flight was a mechanical nut that wiggled loose and floated away from the SpaceX capsule following Thursday’s undocking. Officials assured everyone it would not pose a danger to the space station.

“Look at all this work in the last month,” said Kathy Lueders, NASA’s space operations mission chief. “I really want to personally thank SpaceX for just, wow, just performing such seamless operations on all those missions.”

The astronauts said their mission was highlighted by the three visitors and their ex-astronaut escort who dropped by in April, opening up NASA’s side of the station to paying guests after decades of resistance.

On the down side, they had to contend with a dangerous spike in space junk after Russia blew up a satellite in a missile test in mid-November. More than 1,500 pieces of shrapnel spread across Earth’s orbit for years to come.

While the war in Ukraine has caused tensions between the U.S. and Russia, the astronauts have stood by their Russian crewmates, and vice versa. Flight controllers in Houston and Moscow also continued to cooperate as always, according to NASA officials.

As he relinquished command of the space station earlier this week, Marshburn called it “a place of peace” and said international cooperation would likely be its lasting legacy. Russian Oleg Artemyev, the new commander, also emphasized the “peace between our countries, our friendship” in orbit and described his crewmates as brothers and sisters.

Up there now are three Russians, three Americans and one Italian.

It was Marshburn’s third spaceflight, and the first for the three returning with him. Chari and Barron’s next stop could be the moon; they are among 18 U.S. astronauts picked for NASA’s Artemis moon-landing program. Two others in that elite group are now at the space station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (FNN) – Janet Petro made history in April of 2007 when she became the first female Deputy Director of Kennedy Space Center (KSC).

Janet was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1960 and moved to Satellite Beach, Florida in 1962 when her father, who worked for Chrysler Corporation, was transferred to Florida to work at the space center. Having grown up around NASA and the space program, she naturally gravitated to aeronautics and aerospace as a career path. She also wanted to be an engineer like her dad.

President Gerald Ford opened up the military academies to women in 1975, and Janet was in only the second class to have female cadets. She pursued a degree in engineering and said one reason she picked West Point was that she would be able to continue to play sports while she was there.

In a recent phone interview with Florida National News, Petro said that her time there was “the most foundational years of her life,” teaching her leadership and teamwork, and that the Army had done a good job preparing the upperclassmen and instructors for opening the academy to women. She said that bad behavior was not tolerated and although some let it be known that they didn’t think women belonged there, it was a good experience overall. Petro still remains close to her classmates, who supported her then and now.

In 1981, Petro graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering and began her career as an active duty commissioned officer in the United States Army, flying helicopters in Germany. Janet, however, wanted to be an engineer like her father, so after a very difficult decision, she left the Army to do just that.

Petro also holds a Master of Science in Business Administration from Boston University’s Metropolitan College.

Petro’s first job outside the military was with McDonald Douglas working on classified payloads for the Department of Defense where she met Bill Parsons, who would later become Director of Kennedy Space Center. She would hold several more engineering jobs before applying to become Deputy Director of the space center in April 2007.

When asked about becoming the first woman to hold the position of Deputy Director at KSC she said that the hardest part was coming in and not knowing the people there. Petro said that at KSC most everyone who works there started early in their careers and hardly ever leave, so coming in as the Deputy Director and basically an outsider was difficult.

In those days, KSC revolved around the space shuttle, but everyone knew that the shuttle program would be coming to an end and what drew her to the job was being part of the team that would lead the change for KSC to become a multi-user spaceport. That too was something difficult for those working there to accept, because in their minds only NASA could build and launch rockets or put astronauts in space. They did not understand the concept of commercial companies being able to do that.

Petro led the effort with the FAA and the United States Air Force to streamline governmental processes and support commercial space operations, to increase governmental efficiency and limit redundancy as KSC moved toward becoming a multi-user spaceport.

Janet served a 12-month appointment at NASA headquarters in Washington DC as the Deputy Associate Administrator and acting Director for the office of Evaluation. From 2017 to January 2020, she served as the Program Executive leading the phased implementation to restructure all mission-enabling functions to ensure efficient and effective support of all NASA missions at KSC.

Petro helped lead the senior management team that was awarded the 2019 Samual J. Heyman Service to America Sammies Management Excellence Medal. She has also earned the President’s Distinguished Executive Award and the astronaut-selected Silver Snoopy Award for Outstanding Performance for contributing to flight safety and mission success. Janet was inducted into the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame in 2018.

Petro says that it is an exciting time to be working at KSC and NASA and she is very grateful to have the opportunity to see the space center grow and change. Today, KSC operates with 90 commercial partnerships and has an average of one or two launches a week. She said that Space X will be launching its Crew II mission in late April and that NASA’s Artemis I, which will take the first women to the moon, is one target for a launch date in November of 2021.

Petro continues to lead the way for women at KSC by being the Executive Champion for the Kennedy Networking Opportunities for Women and is leading the way forward for the space center as Chair of the Kennedy Partnership Board.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (FNN NEWS) – SpaceX launched the ANASIS-II from Kennedy Space Center today on the 51st anniversary of the moon landing.

July 20th, 1969, Neil Armstrong famously declared, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”as he stepped onto the surface of the moon. 51 years to date, private space exploration company SpaceX sends ANASIS-II into orbit aboard Falcon-9.

ANASIS-II is South Korea’s first dedicated military communications satellite. It will be held in geostationary orbit above the Korean Peninsula (which means the satellite will move at the same speed as the Earth, appearing to be fixed in the sky). South Korea is a U.S. ally, and its satellite information will help the U.S. monitor the region in a time of constant threat from North Korea.

After a brief weather delay, the rocket was launched at 5:30 EST, and has successfully arrived in its orbit.

The rocket carrying the satellite Falcon-9, used a first-stage booster to help get past Earth’s gravitational pull. This booster is the same used two months ago on the SpaceX mission that sent American astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the International Space Station.

Falcon-9’s reusable rocket component design was groundbreaking, but is only the first step for Elon Musk, founder and inventor of SpaceX and Tesla. His team is currently working on the “Starship” rocket, which will be completely reusable and capable of taking up to 100 passengers to the Moon and Mars.

As Elon Musk and SpaceX have shocked the world with its ingenious designs and daring missions, visitors have flocked to Kennedy Space Center to watch.

In May, SpaceX’s first human flight attracted tens of thousands of visitors to Florida, with more than 10 million people watching online. Buzz Aldrin, who accompanied Neil Armstrong on the Apollo 13 mission, was watching from home, tweeting, “This brings back good memories.”

Today, the beaches and parks were again crowded with eager onlookers. People barbecued and swam as they counted down to the event.

Attending rocket launches is a local tradition for Florida residents, and a favorite vacation trip for those around the country. The alluring nature of Florida’s coast, the fun experiences the Space Visitor Complex has to offer, and the sheer thrill of seeing rockets launch inspire generation after generation to return.

Since the 1960’s, Kennedy Space Center has been allowing visitors to witness the awe-inspiring launches from large viewing stands that directly face the launch sites. Their website describes it as a “jaw dropping, bucket-list experience.”

But the entertainment complex has much more to offer. Huge rockets grace the entrance, and visitors peer into the sky as they stand in line for tickets. Stepping through the gates is like stepping back in time to the 1960’s. The architecture, colors, uniforms, and food are all period, and help immerse visitors. There are a slew of rides, simulators, exhibits, tours, and galleries to explore. The Center hosts astronaut meet and greets for families, astronaut training for adults, and space exploration camps for kids.

In “The World’s Largest Space Shop”, guests can buy actual meteorite fragments, dehydrated ice cream, and historical mission patches. The park welcomes over 1.5 million visitors every year, and is constantly adding and updating its amenities.

In 2019, the center celebrated the 50-year anniversary of the moon landings with special exhibits and celebrations. A year later, it celebrates with the ANASIS-II satellite launch.

This latest launch only proves that space exploration is thriving. SpaceX is developing new technologies and leading the mission to Mars. NASA is continuing its research into off-planet life sustainability, and Kennedy Space Center is keeping the public interested, engaged, and donating.

Any visitors to Florida should schedule their trip around a launch, because while Orlando is the theme park capital, an entirely unique experience is only an hour-and-a-half away.

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Marcos Barrios is a Florida National News contributing writer. The avid writer and musician is passionate about politics and entertainment in Florida and abroad.