Four astronauts strapped into their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, undocked from the International Space Station and plunged to a fiery pre-dawn splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday, closing out the first operational flight of SpaceX's futuristic touch-screen ferry ship. Crew-1 commander Michael Hopkins, along with NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Shannon Walker and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, disconnected from the space-facing port of the station's forward Harmony module at 8:35 p.m. EDT Saturday. That set up only the second piloted water landing for NASA's post-shuttle commercial crew program and just the third night splashdown in space history — the first in nearly 45 years. But the Crew Dragon executed a textbook return to Earth, dropping out of orbit, deploying four big parachutes and settling to a gentle splashdown south of Panama City, Florida, at 2:56 a.m., wrapping up a mission spanning 2,688 orbits over 168 days since launch last November. "Dragon, on behalf of NASA and the SpaceX teams, we welcome you back to planet Earth, and thanks for flying SpaceX," the company's capsule communicator radioed. "For those of you enrolled in our frequent flyer program, you've earned 68 million miles on this voyage." "It is good to be back on planet Earth," Hopkins replied. "And we'll take those miles. Are they transferable?" "And Dragon, we'll have to refer you to our marketing department for that policy." Despite the dead-of-night landing, NASA's WB-57 tracking aircraft captured spectacular infrared views of the capsule as it descended through the dense lower atmosphere while cameras aboard SpaceX's recovery ship showed the moment of splashdown. SpaceX crews rushed to the Crew Dragon to secure the spacecraft and haul it on board a company recovery ship. The astronauts remained inside, waiting for the capsule to be hauled aboard where personnel were standing by to help them get out, on stretchers if needed, as they began re-adjusting to gravity after five and a half months in space. "What a ride! Thanks to the @NASA, @SpaceX, and @USCG teams for a safe and successful journey back to Earth," Glover tweeted. "Another step closer to family and home!" What a ride! Thanks to the @NASA, @SpaceX, and @USCG teams for a safe and successful journey back to Earth. Another step closer to family and home! https://t.co/gMQbs24JUB Before climbing out on his own, Hopkins radioed flight controllers at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, saying "on behalf of Crew-1 and our families, we just want to say thank you." "We want to say thank you for this amazing vehicle, Resilience," he said.