A large cruise ship briefly appeared in the background of NASA and SpaceX’s live broadcast as Crew-11’s Dragon descended toward the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, California, moments before splashdown.

The ship entered the frame during the drogue parachute deployment phase which is part of the spacecraft’s final descent sequence, creating an unusual moment in the otherwise tightly framed recovery coverage as the capsule approached the ocean.

In the broadcast footage, the cruise ship’s outline is visible behind Dragon as the capsule stabilizes under parachutes and drops toward the designated splashdown zone. The appearance did not indicate any operational issue, but it stood out because the live camera views typically show open ocean and recovery teams.

The Cruise ship is likely the Royal Princess

Based on ship traffic off the Southern California coast at the time and outlines of the vessel, the cruise ship is most likely Royal Princess operated by Princess Cruises, which was reportedly the only large cruise liner sailing in the area during the landing window.

Royal Princess is currently on a 5-day west coast cruise.

The moment is visible on the broadcast at 10:23:16, when the ship’s silhouette enters the frame during the drogue parachute deployment portion.

Crew-11 returns after early mission wrap-up

Crew-11’s return ended a more than five-month stay aboard the International Space Station. NASA said the crew included Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, Kimiya Yui, and Oleg Platonov, with Dragon splashing down at 12:41 a.m. PST off San Diego. Recovery teams retrieved the spacecraft shortly after landing.

NASA had earlier opted to bring Crew-11 home ahead of schedule after monitoring a medical concern involving one crew member, describing the astronaut as stable while withholding further details for privacy.