SpaceX Dragon capsule lands safely In Gulf Of Mexico

Four astronauts on SpaceX's "Resilience" capsule safely returned from the International Space Station early Sunday morning. The Dragon capsule parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Panama City, Florida, just before 3 a.m. The astronauts flew back in the same capsule they launched from in November. It's the first U.S. crew splashdown in darkness since the Apollo 8 moonshot in 1968. NASA chose a night landing because of calm weather. But, it also avoided the fleet of private boats that gathered around the last capsule to splash down.

Class discussion: What problems could more than a dozen private boats cause by speeding toward a downed space capsule? Should boaters face stiff fines for violating landing safety zones? How did U.S. astronauts get to the International Space Station before the SpaceX company started Dragon Capsule flights last year? Entrepreneur Elon Musk founded the Spacex aerospace manufacturer and space transport company in 2002. What other companies has he created? What other companies are building spacecraft for the United States?