NASA-SpaceX crew splashes down after returning from ISS
Tuesday, November 9, 2021 | Chimniii Desk
Key Highlights
- After a six-month NASA science mission aboard the International Space Station, four astronauts in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule landed safely in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast on Monday.
- After a dramatic re-entry plunge through Earth's atmosphere, Endeavour parachuted into the sea as planned just after 10:30 p.m. EST on Monday (0330 GMT Tuesday).Minutes before splashdown, live thermal video captured the capsule racing through the night sky over the Gulf.
- At around 15 miles per hour (24 kph) per second, the capsule glided down to the Gulf surface, where it was gently lowered into the calm sea.
- NASA said the astronauts and their capsule should be lifted out of the sea in approximately an hour.
- A plumbing leak aboard the capsule rendered the toilet inoperative, forcing the astronauts to relieve themselves in their spacesuit underwear if nature called during the voyage home, NASA reported.
Advertisement
After a six-month NASA science mission aboard the International Space Station, four astronauts in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule landed safely in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast on Monday.
After a dramatic re-entry plunge through Earth's atmosphere, Endeavour parachuted into the sea as planned just after 10:30 p.m. EST on Monday (0330 GMT Tuesday).
Minutes before splashdown, live thermal video captured the capsule racing through the night sky over the Gulf.
At around 15 miles per hour (24 kph) per second, the capsule glided down to the Gulf surface, where it was gently lowered into the calm sea.
Welcome home to planet Earth, Endeavour," a voice from SpaceX's flight control centre in suburban Los Angeles said after the crew confirmed a safe splashdown.
"It's nice to be back," one astronaut replied through radio.
After a 90-minute autonomous fly-around of the space station, the crew took a series of survey images of the 250-mile-high orbiting complex.
It then performed a series of manoeuvres throughout the day to get it closer to Earth and align the capsule for its nighttime fall.
Advertisement
RE-ENTRY EFFECT
The capsule re-entered the atmosphere at around 17,000 mph (27,359 kph) for a free-fall onto the ocean below, during which crew communications were lost for many minutes.
The intense friction caused as the capsule plunges through the atmosphere raises the temperature around the spacecraft to 3,500°F (1,927 degrees Celsius). As the capsule descends, the re-entry friction slows it.
In the event of cabin overheating, the astronauts' flight suits keep them cool, while a heat shield keeps the capsule from exploding.
The water-proof Crew Dragon bobbed upright in the water as recovery vessels approached. NASA said the astronauts and their capsule should be lifted out of the sea in approximately an hour.
The crew included two NASA astronauts - mission commander Shane Kimbrough, 54, and pilot Megan McArthur, 50 - as well as Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, 52, and European Space Agency engineer Thomas Pesquet, 43.
They were sent into orbit by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on April 23.
It was the third crew launched by NASA's new public-private collaboration with SpaceX, created in 2002 by billionaire Elon Musk, who also founded Tesla Inc. (TSLA.O).
As of last year, NASA had resumed human spaceflights from American soil after a nine-year break following the termination of the US space shuttle programme in 2011.
The replacement crew, "Crew 3," was supposed to launch at the end of October, however weather issues and an unidentified medical concern with one of the four crew members delayed the launch.
A plumbing leak aboard the capsule rendered the toilet inoperative, forcing the astronauts to relieve themselves in their spacesuit underwear if nature called during the voyage home, NASA reported.
Advertisement