Returning to Earth on board the Crew Dragon were 330 pounds (150 kilograms) of supplies and hardware from the space station, including several "cold bags" with science research results. The sight of the four orange and white main parachutes lowering the Crew Dragon to the ocean on Friday set those concerns aside. Musk also voiced concern over the Crew Dragon's parachutes and whether they would be able to guide the capsule to a safe splashdown at the designated point. "I would say hypersonic re-entry is probably my greatest concern," said Musk at a post-launch press conference on March 2, explaining that the Crew Dragon's asymmetric shape, a result of its abort motor housings, could cause the vehicle to enter an unstable roll. The Crew Dragon's entry into the atmosphere was a point of particular concern for SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. EST (1253 GMT), when a 15-minute-long de-orbit burn was executed to slow the spacecraft and begin its descent to Earth. With two small, successive thruster firings, the capsule slowly backed away from the international docking adapter mounted at the front of the orbital lab, where the vehicle had been attached since Sunday.Īdditional engine firings increased the separation between the Crew Dragon and station, until 7:53 a.m. The Crew Dragon undocked from the space station at 2:32 a.m. "Fifty years after humans landed on the moon for the first time, America has driven a golden spike on the trail to new space exploration feats through the work of our commercial partner SpaceX and all the talented and dedicated flight controllers at NASA and our international partners." "We want to take a moment to recognize this milestone accomplishment," said NASA astronaut Anne McClain, an Expedition 58 flight engineer aboard the space station, after the Crew Dragon departed the orbiting laboratory on Friday. The last time that a spacecraft splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean was half a century ago on March 13, 1969, when the Apollo 9 crew returned from Earth orbit on the command module "Gumdrop." EST (1345 GMT), where a SpaceX ship was waiting nearby to recover it from the water. The 6-day, uncrewed test flight was flown to show NASA that the Crew Dragon could safely rendezvous, dock, undock and return from the orbiting outpost, prior to it doing the same with astronauts on board later this year.ĭescending under parachutes, the Crew Dragon touched down off the east coast of Florida at 8:45 a.m. The commercial space capsule landed from the International Space Station on Friday (March 8), bringing to an end SpaceX's Demo-1 (DM-1) mission. SpaceX's first Crew Dragon is back on Earth, having advanced the day when astronauts will next launch to space from the United States and becoming the first spacecraft to splash down in the Atlantic Ocean in 50 years.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |