'Future of civilisation assured when space travel becomes common as air travel': Elon Musk

After the successful return journey of SpaceX Crew Dragon Capsule, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the return of the astronauts was something the whole world can "take pleasure in" as an "achievement of humanity". "No matter wherever you are on Earth, this is a good thing and I hope it brightens your day," Musk said in a press conference after the Crew Dragon Capsule Endeavour splashed down the Gulf of Mexico, as SpaceX becomes the first private company to send people to the International Space Station and back.

He even took to Twitter to express his thoughts on space travel stating that the future of civilisation will be assured when space travel will become as common as air travel.

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NASA astronauts safely splashdown

After spending 63-days at the International Space Station (ISS), the two US astronauts, Bob Behnken and Douglas Hurley returned to Earth on August 3. Behnken and Hurley made history when they became the first people to be launched into low-Earth orbit on a commercial spacecraft built by SpaceX. The mission, Demo-2, also marked the first time NASA had launched astronauts from US soil in nine years.

United States President Donald Trump congratulated the team on the success of the two months-long mission. While taking to Twitter, Trump called the mission ‘very successful’ and informed that the astronauts completed the first splashdown in 45 years. The president even shared the moment when the capsule endeavour splashed in the Gulf of Mexico.  

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine called it "a great day for the United States of America" in a post-splashdown press conference.  "We are entering a new era of human spaceflight where NASA is no longer the purchaser, owner, and operator of all of the hardware. We are going to be a customer — one customer of many customers in a very robust commercial marketplace for human spaceflight to low Earth orbit," he said.

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