{"id":17653,"date":"2020-08-01T18:31:11","date_gmt":"2020-08-01T10:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/astronauts-dodge-hurricane-as-they-head-for-homecoming-in-spacex-dragon-capsule\/"},"modified":"2020-08-01T18:31:11","modified_gmt":"2020-08-01T10:31:11","slug":"astronauts-dodge-hurricane-as-they-head-for-homecoming-in-spacex-dragon-capsule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/astronauts-dodge-hurricane-as-they-head-for-homecoming-in-spacex-dragon-capsule\/","title":{"rendered":"Astronauts dodge hurricane as they head for homecoming in SpaceX Dragon capsule"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_577411\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-577411\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-577411\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/200801-departure1-630x346.jpg\" alt=\"Dragon departure\" width=\"630\" height=\"346\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/200801-departure1-630x346.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/200801-departure1-1260x692.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/200801-departure1-768x422.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/200801-departure1.jpg 1521w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-577411\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A camera on the exterior of the International Space Station shows SpaceX\u2019s Crew Dragon capsule backing away to begin the homeward journey for NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken. (NASA via YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>SpaceX\u2019s Crew Dragon capsule pulled away from the International Space Station today to begin the homeward flight for NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, even as Hurricane Isaias headed for Florida\u2019s Atlantic coast.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, SpaceX\u2019s Dragon capsule is heading for waters off Florida\u2019s <em>other<\/em> coast.<\/p>\n<p>Dragon Endeavour undocked from the station at 7:35 p.m. ET (4:35 p.m. PT), on track for a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico near Pensacola, Fla., at 2:48 p.m. ET (11:48 a.m. PT) Sunday. The alternate landing site is closer to Panama City, Fla.<\/p>\n<p>Both sites should be far away from Isaias\u2019 expected track along the United States\u2019 Atlantic seaboard, and the timetable could be adjusted if the weather forecast changes. NASA and SpaceX had made plans for seven potential splashdown targets, but due to Isaias\u2019 strength, NASA concentrated on the westernmost sites.<\/p>\n<p>Live coverage of the Dragon\u2019s return is due to continue through splashdown.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"NASA Astronauts Return Home in SpaceX's Crew Dragon Spacecraft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/13OkD0C_TWU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Video showed the Dragon smoothly backing away from the station, more than 400 miles over South Africa. \u201cDragon departing,\u201d NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy declared as he rang a nautical-style bell aboard the station.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been a great two months, and we appreciate all you\u2019ve done as a crew to help us prove out Dragon on its maiden flight,\u201d Hurley told Cassidy, the station\u2019s commander, via a radio link.<\/p>\n<p>Just as the Dragon\u2019s launch made history in May, its return will go down in space history books as well. It\u2019ll mark the first return of a commercially built and operated U.S. spacecraft from orbit, and the first at-sea return of U.S. astronauts since the topsy-turvy splashdown of NASA\u2019s Apollo-Soyuz crew in 1975.<\/p>\n<p>During a news conference conducted in advance of the undocking, Hurley said he had reviewed the Apollo record and acknowledged that splashdowns can be \u201cpretty challenging from a physiological standpoint.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFolks didn\u2019t feel well \u2014 that\u2019s the way it is with a water landing,\u201d he said. Flight surgeons will be on board the recovery fleet to help the astronauts adjust.<\/p>\n<p>The game plan calls for the Dragon to be hoisted aboard the main recovery ship with a crane, and then for Behnken and Hurley to be extracted from the capsule for the return to shore.<\/p>\n<p>During their 63 days on the space station, Behnken and Hurley beefed up the station\u2019s crew complement, which had been down to three before they arrived..Behnken participated in four spacewalks with Cassidy to upgrade the orbital outpost\u2019s power system.<\/p>\n<p>Cassidy noted that he had been the sole American, working alongside two Russians. \u201cIt was lonely conversations I had with myself at dinner prior to their arrival \u2014 and with these last two months, it\u2019s been fantastic to have buddies at the chow table to reflect on the day, think about tomorrow and talk about world events,\u201d Cassidy said.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=b0yle&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1289552262076010497&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com%2F2020%2Fspacexs-dragon-aims-dodge-hurricane-homecoming-two-nasa-astronauts%2F&amp;sessionId=12c4df55486babdedcb2c4e5546a77e98d5f7640&amp;siteScreenName=geekwire&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782799111102860587=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;This flag has spent some time up here, on the order of 9 years\u2026 I&#8217;m very proud to return this flag home and see what&#8217;s next for it on its journey to the Moon.&#8221; \u2013 @Astro_Doug with the U.S. flag that will return home with the #LaunchAmerica crew &amp; fly on the 1st #Artemis mission pic.twitter.com\/aHYoE82c1N<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NASA (@NASA) August 1, 2020<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Behnken and Hurley aren\u2019t the only space travelers returning to Earth. Tremor, a plush dinosaur that was used as a zero-G indicator for the Dragon\u2019s launch, is coming back as well.<\/p>\n<p>The Dragon is also bringing back a U.S. flag that flew aboard NASA\u2019s first and last space shuttle mission, and had been kept on the space station since the shuttle fleet\u2019s retirement in 2011 for the next crew to arrive on a U.S.-built spacecraft.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe flag\u2019s all yours,\u201d Cassidy told Hurley during a farewell ceremony.<\/p>\n<p>In an extra historical twist, Hurley was part of the crew who dropped the flag nine years earlier. \u201cI\u2019m very proud to return this flag home, and see what\u2019s next for it on its journey to the moon,\u201d he said, referring to NASA\u2019s Artemis moon program.<\/p>\n<p>The next SpaceX Crew Dragon launch to the space station is scheduled for as early as next month. And Behnken\u2019s wife, NASA astronaut Megan McArthur, is due to be part of a Dragon crew heading for the station next spring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A camera on the exterior of the International Space Station shows SpaceX\u2019s Crew Dragon capsule backing away to begin the homeward journey for NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken. (NASA via YouTube) SpaceX\u2019s Crew Dragon capsule pulled away from the International Space Station today to begin the homeward flight for NASA astronauts Doug Hurley [&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":[235,1395,717,190,316],"class_list":["post-17653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-crew-dragon","tag-dragon","tag-international-space-station","tag-nasa","tag-spacex"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17653"}],"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=17653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17653\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}