The SpaceX shuttle returns four astronauts from the International Space Station to Earth
After nearly six months in space, four astronauts – three Americans and one Japanese – left Saturday 1he is May, the International Space Station aboard the SpaceX ship, to return to Earth; The trip must end with the waters falling off Florida in the middle of the night.
The Crew Dragon capsule separated from the International Space Station at the appointed time (8:35 p.m. Saturday on the US East Coast, 2:35 a.m. Sunday, in Paris). They were initially scheduled to leave the International Space Station on Wednesday, then Friday, but had to be postponed each time due to bad weather forecast in the landing area.
The separation has been confirmed. Dragon will make four departures burn to move away from space_station https://t.co/43GwSBrWJc
Thank you for your hospitality. (…) We will meet again on earthMichael Hopkins, one of the four astronauts, fired those who remained on the station. The return trip to Earth is expected to take approximately 6.5 hours. The four astronauts are scheduled to land Sunday at 2:57 a.m. local time in the Gulf of Mexico (8:57 a.m. KST). The planned landing site is located off Panama City, Florida, but other alternative sites have been identified as needed.
“We trained to recover the crews day and night.”Steve Stitch, head of NASA’s commercial flight program, explained that it was interviewed shortly before the capsule departed. “Boats have a lot of lighting.” We will have “moon light”He added that the weather conditions were excellent at the moment with the calm sea. SpaceX ships can access the capsule “Ten minutes after landing.”Explained.
“Time has passed”
In November 2020, Americans Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Japanese Soichi Noguchi were the first astronauts on a mission. “Employment” To be transported to the International Space Station by the Elon Musk space company, which has proven itself as a primary partner of NASA.
Two Americans actually made a round trip aboard the Dragon in 2020, during a two-month test mission aboard the station. It was the first flight to the International Space Station launched from the United States since the end of the space shuttles in 2011, and the first to be operated by a private company with astronauts on board. This time it is the first regular mission brought back to Earth by SpaceX.
to me “splash” Finally, the astronauts will be on board the same Dragon ship, approved ‘Resilience’, Which took them into orbit, which SpaceX then plans to reuse on other missions, after being revamped.
The departure of this Crew-1 crew comes after its arrival on the International Space Station last week on a second regular mission by the American company (Crew-2), which includes French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, and to whom the club was passed in recent days.
Shannon Walker handed command of the International Space Station to Astronaut Crew 2 on Tuesday in a symbolic ceremony. “I’ll cherish these moments forever.”, She announced on this occasion. In total, Crew-1 will spend 168 days in space. “Time flies by so fast.”Victor Glover has been sentenced.
In addition to the four Crew-2 astronauts, another American astronaut and Rusan, who arrived on board the Soyuz rocket, they remain on the International Space Station. Before leaving Crew-1, the space station was inhabited by at least eleven people.