SpaceX capsule lands in Atlantic Ocean

Elon Musk's SpaceX Dragon capsule has successfully returned to Earth,  paving the way for the first American manned spaceflight in eight years.    The commercial astronaut capsule - a joint venture between Nasa and SpaceX  - landed in the Atlantic Ocean on Frirday morning after a week-long trip to the International Space Station (ISS) and back.  It marks the first orbital test mission in the space agency's long-delayed quest to resume human space flight from US soil. But it also opens a new  chapter for private companies in the space race.  The test mission was a crucial milestone in Nasa's commercial crew  programme ahead of SpaceX’s first crewed test flight scheduled for July  with two American astronauts.  Nasa has awarded SpaceX and Boeing Co a total of $6.8 billion (£5.23  billion) to build competing rocket and capsule systems to launch astronauts into orbit from American soil, something not possible since the US Space Shuttle was retired from service in 2011.  SpaceX's crew capsule undocks from the International Space Station on Friday Credit: NASA TV The launch systems are aimed at ending American reliance on Russian Soyuz  rockets for $80 million-per-seat rides to the $100 billion orbital research laboratory, which flies about 250 miles above earth.  "This really is an American achievement that spans many generations of NASA  administrators and over a decade of work by the NASA team," Nasa Administrator Jim Bridenstine said.  Mr Bridenstine told reporters that the cost per seat on the Boeing or  SpaceX systems would be lower than for the shuttle or Soyuz.  The first-of-a-kind mission brought 400 pounds of test equipment to the  ISS, including a dummy nicknamed Ripley in honour of the character played by Sigourney Weaver in the "Alien" movies.  Ripley was fitted with sensors around its head, neck and spine to test the  forces that future astronauts will be subjected to on takeoff and when they return to the Earth's atmosphere.  The space station's three-member crew greeted the capsule last Sunday, with American astronaut Anne McClain and Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques entering Crew Dragon’s cabin to carry out air quality tests and inspections.  The Crew Dragon capsule autonomously detached from the ISS early on Friday and sped back to earth reaching hyper-sonic speeds before landing about 200  miles off the Florida coast.  SpaceX's crew capsule has returned to earth Credit: NASA TV A SpaceX rocket launched the 16-foot-tall capsule from the Kennedy Space  Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida last Saturday.  Minutes before hitting the water, the Crew Dragon capsule deployed its four  parachutes, easing some concerns about functionality that both Nasa and SpaceX had before the landing.  Mr Musk, SpaceX's chief executive, had previously voiced his concerns over how the capsule would cope with re-entry because of the irregular shape of the vehicle's heat shield.  But speaking after landing Benjamin Reed, SpaceX’s director of crew mission management, said: "Everything happened just perfectly, right on time the  way that we expected it to".  A boat in the zone where the capsule landed in the Atlantic lifted the  spacecraft out of the water. It will carry the capsule back to land by Sunday.  "The vehicle is doing well. The recovery crews are out. They're on the  scene," said Steve Stich, the crew program's deputy manager with Nasa.