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NASA astronauts say they made prank calls from SpaceX Crew Dragon

And the phone bill should go to Elon Musk.

Amanda Kooser
Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.
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NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley give the thumbs-up from inside Crew Dragon after splashdown.

NASA/Bill Ingalls

You've just made history as part of the crew of the first commercially built and operated US spacecraft to ferry NASA astronauts between Earth and the International Space Station. You're splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico and are waiting for your ride. What do you do? Make some prank calls, of course. 

NASA's Doug Hurley and his crewmate Bob Behnken had a satellite phone at their disposal after splashdown on Sunday. At a press conference later that day, Hurley filled us in on what they did with their spare time as they floated around. 

"Five hours ago we were in a spaceship bobbing around making prank satellite phone calls to whoever we could get ahold of," Hurley said. "Which was kind of fun, by the way." Hurley suggested the satellite phone bill should go to SpaceX founder Elon Musk , who was sitting nearby.

Hurley and Behnken didn't elaborate on the content of the prank calls, but here's hoping they tried to order a pizza for delivery to GO Navigator, the SpaceX recovery ship that fished them out of the water.

SpaceX's Crew Dragon successfully made it though the historic Demo-2 mission as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. SpaceX and NASA hope to start regular operational missions to the ISS later this year. 

That means there could be more prank calls incoming if this post-splashdown time-killer becomes a tradition for Crew Dragon astronauts. After blasting through space, you need to do something to unwind.