{"id":10321,"date":"2023-09-05T00:59:20","date_gmt":"2023-09-04T16:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/crew-dragon-safely-splashes-down-east-of-jacksonville\/"},"modified":"2023-09-05T00:59:20","modified_gmt":"2023-09-04T16:59:20","slug":"crew-dragon-safely-splashes-down-east-of-jacksonville","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/crew-dragon-safely-splashes-down-east-of-jacksonville\/","title":{"rendered":"Crew Dragon safely splashes down east of Jacksonville"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_63539\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-63539\" style=\"width: 678px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-63539\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230904-Crew-6-entry-Feature-Image.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"381\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230904-Crew-6-entry-Feature-Image.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230904-Crew-6-entry-Feature-Image-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-63539\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crew Dragon streaks through the midnight sky as seen from NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center. Image: Will Robinson-Smith\/Spaceflight Now.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Blazing like a shooting star as it streaked high above northern Florida, a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft carried four space station fliers back to Earth early Monday, splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean east of Jacksonville to wrap up a six-month stay in orbit.<\/p>\n<p>Crew-6 commander Stephen Bowen, pilot Woody Hoburg, cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev and UAE crewmate Sultan Alneyadi undocked from the station\u2019s forward Harmony module at 7:05 a.m. EDT Sunday to kick off a 17-hour flight back to Earth.<\/p>\n<p>The automated Crew Dragon executed a 16-minute de-orbit thruster firing starting at 11:24 p.m., slowing the spacecraft by about 250 mph \u2014 just enough to drop it back into the lower atmosphere for a steep southwest-to-northeast trajectory carrying it above Central America and north Florida.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7nKytoZU5O0\" width=\"678\" height=\"381\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>With SpaceX recovery crews and NASA observers standing by, the capsule\u2019s four main parachutes deployed on time, inflated and lowered the spacecraft to a gentle splashdown in light wind and five-foot waves off Florida\u2019s east coast at 12:17 a.m.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn behalf of NASA and SpaceX, welcome back home,\u201d SpaceX radioed from the California rocket builder\u2019s control center. \u201cThank you for flying SpaceX.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe greatly appreciate all the support, from all the initial training, to the launch, throughout the mission \u2026 this has been incredible,\u201d Bowen replied. \u201cWe certainly appreciate it and look forward to working with you all again.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_63546\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-63546\" style=\"width: 678px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-63546\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230904-Crew-6-Entry-Streak-Titusville.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"432\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230904-Crew-6-Entry-Streak-Titusville.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230904-Crew-6-Entry-Streak-Titusville-300x191.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-63546\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A long exposure from Titusville, Florida, captures the fiery reentry of the Dragon capsule bringing Crew 6 back to Earth on Sep. 4, 2023. Image: Michael Cain\/Spaceflight Now.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Viewed from the Kennedy Space Center, the returning spacecraft looked like a slow-motion meteor blazing a long, brilliant trail across the sky as the Crew Dragon was enveloped in a cloud of super-heated plasma, slowing from orbital velocity of 17,100 mph to just 300 mph or so in a matter of minutes.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX crews reached the Crew Dragon within minutes of splashdown. After making sure no propellant propellant vapors were present, cables were connected and the spacecraft was hauled aboard the SpaceX recovery ship.<\/p>\n<p>As usual with long-duration flights, recovery personnel carried Bowen and company out of the Crew Dragon, one at a time, and put them on rolling recliners to ease the initial rigors of readjusting to the unfamiliar tug of gravity.<\/p>\n<p>Before departing the space station, Bowen, a former submariner, said he most looked forward to \u201cthe nice ocean air and peaceful calm seas. That\u2019ll be really nice to get back to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hoburg said he was looking forward to \u201ca real shower.\u201d Alneyadi said he couldn\u2019t wait to rejoin friends and family, along with enjoying \u201ca real hot cup of coffee.\u201d As for Fedyaev, \u201cI think my dream is a bed for good sleeping. I can lay on one side. Another side. My back. Sleeping!\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_63545\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-63545\" style=\"width: 678px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-63545\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230904-Crew-6-entry-close-up.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"423\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230904-Crew-6-entry-close-up.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230904-Crew-6-entry-close-up-300x187.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-63545\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dragon Endeavour trails hot plasma across the sky above Central Florida. Image: Steven Young\/Spaceflight Now.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After initial medical checks aboard the recovery ship, all four fliers were to be flown to shore by helicopter. A NASA jet was standing by in Jacksonville to carry them back to Houston and the Johnson Space Center for debriefing, more detailed medical checks and reunions with friends and family.<\/p>\n<p>Left behind in orbit were three Soyuz crew members \u2014 station commander Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitri Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio \u2014 and four Crew Dragon fliers launched August 26 to replace Bowen and company: Crew-7 commander Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen, Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa and cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov.<\/p>\n<p>Prokopyev, Petelin and Rubio were launched to the station last September and are wrapping up a marathon 371-day mission.<\/p>\n<p>They originally planned to spend six months in space, but their Soyuz ferry ship was disabled by a major coolant leak last December. The Russians opted to send up a replacement spacecraft, and the crew\u2019s mission was extended an additional six months.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_63548\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-63548\" style=\"width: 678px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-63548\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230904-Crew-6-Capsule-Lift-678x431.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"431\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230904-Crew-6-Capsule-Lift-678x431.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230904-Crew-6-Capsule-Lift-300x191.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230904-Crew-6-Capsule-Lift-768x489.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230904-Crew-6-Capsule-Lift-1536x977.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230904-Crew-6-Capsule-Lift.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-63548\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dragon Endeavour is hoisted aboard the SpaceX recovery ship Megan shortly after splashdown. Image: Joel Kowsky\/NASA.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A fresh Soyuz crew \u2014 commander Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub and NASA astronaut Loral O\u2019Hara \u2014 is scheduled for launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 15.<\/p>\n<p>Prokopyev, Petelin and Rubio will undock and return to Earth 12 days later. In so doing, Rubio will set a new U.S. record for the longest single spaceflight by an American astronaut.<\/p>\n<p>Launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on March 2, the Crew-6 fliers spent 185 days and 22 hours off planet, circling the globe 2,976 times while traveling 78.9 million miles through space. At splashdown, Bowen, the only space veteran on the crew, had logged 227 days in space across four missions.<\/p>\n<p>Over the course of their flight, the Crew-6 astronauts welcomed seven visiting vehicles, including two unpiloted Cargo Dragon spacecraft, two Russian Progress supply ships, a Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo carrier and two piloted Crew Dragons.<\/p>\n<p>They also carried out three spacewalks. Bowen an Hoburg ventured outside twice to install new roll-out solar blankets and Alneyadi joined Bowen for a third excursion to retrieve a failed antenna package and to carry out other maintenance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s certainly been the experience of a lifetime, and a real honor to get to spend six months, six incredibly short-feeling months, living and working aboard this incredible orbiting outpost,\u201d Hoburg said before departing the station. \u201cI think we got a lot done.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_63549\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-63549\" style=\"width: 678px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-63549\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230904-Crew-6-in-capsule.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"409\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230904-Crew-6-in-capsule.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/20230904-Crew-6-in-capsule-300x181.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-63549\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The crew are pictured inside the Dragon capsule after splashdown and recovery. From left to right: Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, NASA astronauts Warren \u201cWoody\u201d Hoburg and Stephen Bowen, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan Alneyadi. Image: Joel Kowsky\/NASA.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Crew Dragon streaks through the midnight sky as seen from NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center. Image: Will Robinson-Smith\/Spaceflight Now. Blazing like a shooting star as it streaked high above northern Florida, a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft carried four space station fliers back to Earth early Monday, splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean east of Jacksonville to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10321"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10321\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}