{"id":10843,"date":"2021-11-09T20:25:51","date_gmt":"2021-11-09T12:25:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacex-crew-capsule-brings-astronauts-home-after-nearly-200-days-in-orbit\/"},"modified":"2021-11-09T20:25:51","modified_gmt":"2021-11-09T12:25:51","slug":"spacex-crew-capsule-brings-astronauts-home-after-nearly-200-days-in-orbit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacex-crew-capsule-brings-astronauts-home-after-nearly-200-days-in-orbit\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX crew capsule brings astronauts home after nearly 200 days in orbit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet, pilot Megan McArthur, commander Shane Kimbrough, and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide inside their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule after splashdown Monday night in the Gulf of Mexico. Credit: NASA\/Aubrey Gemignani<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two NASA astronauts and mission specialists from Japan and France closed out a 199-day <\/span>flight<\/span> Monday on a SpaceX crew capsule, departing the International Space Station and riding their Dragon spacecraft through a scorching re-entry and splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.<\/span><\/p>\n

NASA commander Shane Kimbrough, pilot Megan McArthur, Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet descended back to Earth with a nighttime re-entry visible from from Mexico and the U.S. Gulf Coast.<\/p>\n

Numerous skywatchers reported sightings of the capsule\u2019s re-entry, which left a luminescent trail of plasma in its wake as temperatures outside the Dragon spacecraft reached several thousand degrees.<\/p>\n

Inside the capsule, the astronauts were seated in reclining seats, with their touch screen displays providing data on the progress of the fully automated descent.<\/p>\n

SpaceX mission control reestablished contact with the Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft after a seven-minute communications blackout caused by the super-heated plasma sheath around the capsule during entry. Moments later, four main parachutes opened to slow the spacecraft for a gentle splashdown in calm seas near Pensacola, Florida, at 10:33 p.m. EST Monday (0333 GMT Tuesday).<\/p>\n

A recovery ship positioned near the splashdown location moved into place near the Crew Dragon capsule. A lifting apparatus raised the Dragon from the sea and placed it on a cradle, where SpaceX opened the capsule\u2019s hatch and helped the astronauts out of the spacecraft.<\/p>\n

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A plasma trail from then Dragon spacecraft\u2019s re-entry is visible from the mission\u2019s splashdown zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Credit: NASA\/Aubrey Gemignani<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

McArthur, an oceanographer before joining NASA\u2019s astronaut corps, was first out of the spacecraft. The second astronaut to exit the Crew Dragon capsule was Kimbrough, a retired U.S. Army helicopter pilot who wrapped up his third mission to space.<\/p>\n

Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide was next out of the capsule, followed by Pesquet, who has now logged 395 days in orbit on his two space station expeditions, more time in space than any other ESA astronaut.<\/p>\n

The astronauts were placed onto stretchers to ease their acclimation to Earth\u2019s gravity after nearly seven months in space.<\/p>\n

After initial medical checks on-board SpaceX\u2019s recovery ship, the four astronauts were expected to ride a helicopter to shore, where airplanes were waiting to take Kimbrough, McArthur, and Hoshide to NASA\u2019s astronaut training base in Houston. Pesquet will fly to the European Astronaut Center in Cologne, Germany, for his post-flight debriefing and rehabilitation.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, SpaceX will safe the Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft for the trip by sea back to Cape Canaveral, where ground teams will refurbish the reusable capsule for another launch into orbit. The splashdown Monday night concluded the second mission for Crew Dragon Endeavour, and also marked the end of the second operational crew flight to the space station using SpaceX\u2019s fleet of human-rated spaceships.<\/p>\n

SpaceX has a $2.6 billion contract with NASA that covered development of the Crew Dragon spacecraft, plus six crew rotation flights.<\/p>\n

The mission, known as Crew-2, began with launch April 23 on top of a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The capsule automatically docked with the space station the next day.<\/p>\n

The Crew-2 astronauts operated experiments and maintained the orbiting research lab. They also performed spacewalks to install a new solar array outside the complex.<\/p>\n

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NASA commander Shane Kimbrough is helped out of the Crew Dragon spacecraft Monday night. Credit: NASA\/Aubrey Gemignani<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NASA and SpaceX delayed the Crew Dragon\u2019s undocking and return to Earth from last week in response to the postponed launch of a fresh team of astronauts on the Crew-3 mission. That launch was scheduled for Oct. 31 on top of a Falcon 9 rocket, but high winds in the Dragon\u2019s offshore abort zones in the Atlantic Ocean and a minor medical issue with one of the Crew-3 astronauts forced officials to delay the flight.<\/p>\n

NASA mangers decided to swap the order of the crew rotation and bring the Crew-2 astronauts home before launching the Crew-3 mission. The change eliminated a planned handover in orbit between the Crew-2 and Crew-3 astronauts.<\/p>\n

The Crew-3 launch is now scheduled for Wednesday at 9:03 p.m. EST (0203 GMT Thursday) from pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center. The Crew-3 mission\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon Endurance space capsule have remained vertical on the launch pad during the delay.<\/p>\n

With the Crew-3 mission still awaiting liftoff, NASA and SpaceX gave the green light for the Crew-2 astronauts to depart the space station Monday.<\/p>\n

Kimbrough, McArthur, Hoshide, and Pesquet floated into their Crew Dragon spacecraft and put on their custom-fitted SpaceX-made pressure suits for undocking. The capsule separated from the station at 2:05 p.m. EST (1905 GMT) and backed away to a range of more than 660 feet (200 meters).<\/p>\n