SpaceX Crew Dragon returned to Earth today!

Crew Dragon (L-R): Robert Behnken, Doug Hurley

SpaceX's Crew Dragon, consisting of Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico today about 2:48PM EDT!  The last time NASA had a mission splashdown was in 1975 when Tom Stafford, Vance Brand and Deke Slayton returned from the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.

Bob and Doug spent 62 days aboard the International Space Station participating in Expedition 63.  Behnken conducted four EVAs with fellow astronaut Chris Cassidy during the mission.

First tortoises in space: Zond 5 lands 1968

Launched September 14, 1968, the Soviet spacecraft Zond 5 carrying two tortoises, mealworms, wine flies, plants and a partridge in a pear tree (okay, I made that last one up), landed September 22, becoming the first time living creatures went to the moon and back safely.

Zond 5 was supposed to return to Kazakhstan but due to an error, it landed in the Indian Ocean.  It was recovered 4 days later.  The tortoises had lost about 10% of their  body weight but other than that, they were fine.