In the early hours of this morning at about 4:42am, the Gulf Shores region witnessed the return of NASA's SpaceX Crew-7 mission, with a splashdown off the coast of Pensacola, Florida at 4:47am. The Crew-7 mission, part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, marked another successful collaboration between NASA and SpaceX.

The mission's return was particularly notable for residents along the northern Gulf Coast, as the spacecraft's trajectory brought it over Gulf Shores/Orange Beach, providing a unique spectacle for those early risers lucky enough to witness it (see video below). The Dragon had a fire-tail as it approached the shoreline, but the tail disappeared as the capsule moved over the Gulf of Mexico. The video was shot from the Orange Beach Public Beach at Coastal Restaurant this morning.

The Crew Dragon spacecraft, named Endurance, carried an international crew consisting of NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov. The crew had spent six months aboard the International Space Station (ISS), where they engaged in scientific research, technology demonstrations, and maintenance of the orbiting laboratory.

Endurance undocked from the ISS and autonomously made its way back to Earth, concluding with a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, southwest of Pensacola. This precise landing near Pensacola was a part of the carefully planned return journey to ensure a safe and efficient recovery of the crew and the significant scientific research aboard the spacecraft.