Science News Roundup: Astronauts recount wild ride home on SpaceX's Crew Dragon; Scientists create artificial skin able to feel and more

NASA astronauts cap historic ‘odyssey’ aboard SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule U.S. astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, who flew to the International Space Station in SpaceX's new Crew Dragon, splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday after a two-month voyage that was NASA's first crewed mission from home soil in nine years.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

NASA astronauts cap historic 'odyssey' aboard SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule

U.S. astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, who flew to the International Space Station in SpaceX's new Crew Dragon, splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday after a two-month voyage that was NASA's first crewed mission from home soil in nine years. Behnken and Hurley, tallying 64 days in space, undocked from the station on Saturday and returned home to land their capsule in calm waters off Florida's Pensacola coast on schedule at 2:48 p.m. ET following a 21-hour overnight journey aboard Crew Dragon "Endeavor."

'Gnarly' tumor shows dinosaurs got cancer, too

When scientists first unearthed fossils of a horned dinosaur called Centrosaurus in the badlands of Dinosaur Provincial Park in Canada's Alberta province in 1989, they spotted a badly malformed leg bone they figured was a healed fracture. A fresh examination, researchers said on Monday, shows something different. The malformation was a manifestation of osteosarcoma, an aggressive bone cancer, making this Centrosaurus, which lived 76 million years ago, the first known example of a dinosaur afflicted by malignant cancer.

Virgin Galactic's Branson to fly into space in early 2021

Billionaire Richard Branson will fly into space on a Virgin Galactic rocketship early next year, the space tourism company he founded said on Monday, adding that it would raise new funds with a share offering. Branson's trip to space hinges on the success of two upcoming test flight programs, Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc said, with the first powered spaceflight scheduled for this fall from Spaceport America.

Scientists inspired by 'Star Wars' create artificial skin able to feel

Singapore researchers have developed "electronic skin" capable of recreating a sense of touch, an innovation they hope will allow people with prosthetic limbs to detect objects, as well as feel texture, or even temperature and pain. The device, dubbed ACES, or Asynchronous Coded Electronic Skin, is made up of 100 small sensors and is about 1 sq cm (0.16 square inch) in size. 'It came alive:'

Astronauts recount wild ride home on SpaceX's Crew Dragon

U.S. astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, home two days from a landmark mission as NASA's first crew to fly a privately built vehicle into orbit, recounted on Tuesday the loud, jarring ride they experienced through Earth's atmosphere before a safe landing at sea. Their splash-down on Sunday in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida - a mode of return for human spaceflight last used by NASA 45 years ago - capped the first launch of astronauts from U.S. soil in nine years.