NASA Astronauts Splashdown In SpaceX Crew Dragon: REPLAY

GULF OF MEXICO — United States astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken have landed with the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft in the first NASA splashdown since 1975. Hurley and Behnken landed in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico near Pensacola, Florida, and southeast Alabama right on time, at the estimated 2:48 p.m. landing moment.

The duo had traveled to the International Space Station in an endeavor voyage called the SpaceX Demo-2 mission after launching from Cape Canaveral on May 30. Hurley and Behnken were at the International Space Station for 62 days after arriving there one day after their Florida launch, NASA said.

Sunday's splashdown ended a 19-hour journey home from the space station, commentators on the NASA livestream said.

Watch it again in the video player above after the livestream ends.

The spacecraft came into view five minutes before splashdown, with parachutes first deployed with two minutes to go. The aircraft significantly slowed down, commentators said, to about 16 miles per hour.

"Bracing for splashdown," one of the astronauts said just moments before making a clean landing on the water.

A recovery boat, Go Navigator, departed Sunday morning to bring Hurley and Behnken to land and quickly arrived after splashdown. A second recovery boat was also on the way after splashdown, commentators said.

It was the first human landing for SpaceX, a company founded by Elon Musk. NASA has oversight on the experimental voyage, which included the first human space launch from United States soil since the space program was discontinued in 2011.

The landing was the first splashdown by NASA astronauts in 45 years and the first ever in the Gulf of Mexico.

The spaceship made more than 1,000 orbits around Earth before entering its atmosphere. Weather in the Gulf was described as "perfect," making landing a "GO."