\"You're just hoping and praying that everything is going well, and of course when you get that first acquisition of signal, it’s a time we can all breathe a sigh of relief,\" NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told ABC News.

\"It has gone as flawlessly as it could possibly have gone,\" he said.

\"Thanks for flying @SpaceX.\"

📍 Current Location: Planet Earth

A 2:48pm ET, @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug splashed down, marking the first splashdown of an American crew spacecraft in 45 years. #LaunchAmerica pic.twitter.com/zO3KlNwxU3

— NASA (@NASA) August 2, 2020

.@AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug have been lifted out of the water and are aboard the Go Navigator. Welcome home. #LaunchAmerica pic.twitter.com/gjqUcLMy8X

— NASA (@NASA) August 2, 2020

Hurley and Behnken, whose mission began on May 30, undocked from the International Space Station at about 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday to head back to Earth.

Stakes were high as the astronauts only had 48 hours of oxygen in their capsule after undocking.

\"PHOTO:
NASA/EPA via Shutterstock
PHOTO: The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, carrying NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, undocks from the International Space Station (ISS), Aug. 1, 2020.
>

Crew Dragon Endeavour's deorbit burn commenced at 1:56 p.m. ET Sunday and was completed at about 2:13 p.m. ET.

At about 2:36 p.m. ET, a communications blackout began and the Dragon went fully autonomous. The blackout lasted about four minutes.

Coming in hot https://t.co/dzFr5BNBfF

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 2, 2020

The weather conditions appeared \"great\" for the parachute splashdown, tweeted Bridenstine.

\"PHOTO:
NASA via Reuters
PHOTO: A capsule with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley splashes down in the Gulf of Mexico, August 2, 2020.
>

A recovery boat with several dozen crew members waited in the Gulf of Mexico Sunday for the astronauts.

\"PHOTO:
Bill Ingalls/NASA/AFP via Getty Images
PHOTO: NASA and SpaceX support teams onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship, prepare for the landing of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour, Aug. 2, 2020, in the Gulf of Mexico off the cost of Pensacola, Florida.
>
\"PHOTO:
Bill Ingalls/AP
PHOTO: SpaceX support teams are deployed on fast boats from the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship ahead of the landing of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft, Aug. 2, 2020, in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Fla.
>

Once the astronauts reach the port in Pensacola, they will board the NASA Gulfstream and head to Houston for a ceremony at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base.

Behnken said Friday he was most excited to see his family and his 6-year-old son, saying, \"He's changed a lot in the couple of months that we've been up here.\"

\"PHOTO:
NASA/EPA via Shutterstock, FILE
PHOTO: NASA astronauts Bob Behnken, left, and Doug Hurley participate in a fully integrated test of SpaceX Crew Dragon flight hardware at the SpaceX processing facility on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, March 30, 2020.
>

On Sunday morning Hurley and Behnken woke up to a message from their children who were all excited for their return.

Space dads @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug woke up aboard @SpaceX’s Dragon Endeavour to hear a message from their sons, awaiting the #LaunchAmerica crew’s arrival back on planet Earth. pic.twitter.com/ZhtZzpLYhu

— NASA (@NASA) August 2, 2020
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