'Unique experience': US astronaut 'felt really heavy' returning to earth on SpaceX capsule

“I felt really heavy”, said one of the four astronauts on May 6 who returned to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) after spending over 160 days in space. The crew was blasted off from Earth's atmosphere in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule and also brought back with a splashdown off Florida early May 2 (local time) which was also NASA’s first nighttime ocean landing in over half a century. 

Describing their experience of the mission, one of the astronauts in the groups called Crew-1, Victor Glover said on Thursday that there was an instance when he had to tell himself to breathe and that he felt like “those cartoons.” It was also the first regular mission to be taken and then returned from space aboard a spacecraft built by Elon Musk’s aerospace company, SpaceX.

"There was a point where I was just saying to myself, breathe. Inhale, because I felt really heavy -- I felt like those cartoons when they experience G and your face is just sagging down," said Victor Glover of Crew-1.

He further said, "I expected it to be so dynamic -- and so challenging -- that the actual event I think, was a little less than what I was expecting, and so it was enjoyable all around.” The weight of the acceleration was mainly concentrated in the astronaut’s chest and hence, it reportedly made it difficult to breathe. However, he noted that “launch and entry are such unique experiences.”

NASA-SpaceX launch of astronauts from American soil

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA has contracted Elon Musk’s SpaceX to launch astronauts into space from American soil which did not happen since 2011 after the end of the space shuttle program, until now. In the years that followed 2011, the United States space agency was forced to pay for rides to the ISS aboard Russian Soyuz vessels that land on dry land. 

Talking about splashdown landing in the homeland, US astronaut Shannon Walker said, “Landing in the water was interesting because none of us really knew what to expect, but I would say from my standpoint, it felt a little bit softer than landing on land.”

“You spend less time under a parachute on the Dragon than you do under the Soyuz,” she added. Further, Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi also said that the landing was smooth. He said, “Impact was very, very minimal, and right after splashdown. We feel the waves, we come back to the water planet...That's a great feeling."

Image credits: @Commercial_Crew/Twitter