{"id":22409,"date":"2021-11-03T19:41:54","date_gmt":"2021-11-03T11:41:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/how-does-crew-3s-launch-delay-affect-crew-2s-departure-from-the-international-space-station\/"},"modified":"2021-11-03T19:41:54","modified_gmt":"2021-11-03T11:41:54","slug":"how-does-crew-3s-launch-delay-affect-crew-2s-departure-from-the-international-space-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/how-does-crew-3s-launch-delay-affect-crew-2s-departure-from-the-international-space-station\/","title":{"rendered":"How does Crew-3\u2019s launch delay affect Crew-2\u2019s departure from the International Space Station?"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"img-border featured-image wp-block-image--obfuscated\">\n<p>\t<img width=\"100%\" src=\"https:\/\/spaceexplored.com\/wp-content\/themes\/ninetofive\/dist\/images\/default-spaceexplored-related-guide.png?w=1580\" class=\"skip-lazy wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spaceexplored.com\/wp-content\/themes\/ninetofive\/dist\/images\/default-spaceexplored-related-guide.png?w=320&amp;quality=82&amp;strip=all&amp;ssl=1 320w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spaceexplored.com\/wp-content\/themes\/ninetofive\/dist\/images\/default-spaceexplored-related-guide.png?w=640&amp;quality=82&amp;strip=all&amp;ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spaceexplored.com\/wp-content\/themes\/ninetofive\/dist\/images\/default-spaceexplored-related-guide.png?w=1024&amp;quality=82&amp;strip=all&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spaceexplored.com\/wp-content\/themes\/ninetofive\/dist\/images\/default-spaceexplored-related-guide.png?w=1500&amp;quality=82&amp;strip=all&amp;ssl=1 1500w\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" data-attachment-id=\"23772\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/spaceexplored.com\/2021\/11\/02\/when-will-spacexs-crew-2-return-from-the-iss\/50617625183_e6ef3d8291_k\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/spaceexplored.com\/wp-content\/themes\/ninetofive\/dist\/images\/default-spaceexplored-related-guide.png\" data-orig-size=\"2048,1296\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-title=\"SpaceX Crew-2 in Dragon\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/spaceexplored.com\/wp-content\/themes\/ninetofive\/dist\/images\/default-spaceexplored-related-guide.png?w=1024\"><br \/>\n\t<\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We\u2019ve seen not one but two delays now for SpaceX\u2019s Crew-3 mission. While we hope for a speedy recovery for the crew member who suffered from the \u201cminor medical issue,\u201d we have to ask, What does this mean for the return home for Crew-2, the current residents of the ISS?<\/p>\n<p><span id=\"more-23680\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SpaceX\u2019s Crew-3 is delayed to no sooner than Saturday evening, but there is a good chance the weather will be unfavorable again. As a result, another delay could push the launch of Crew-2\u2019s replacements to Sunday or into next week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Usually, the handoff between NASA crews occurs while both crews are on the station. This is called a direct handoff and temporarily brings the ISS capacity to 11. Then, a few days later, the previous crew begins their journey home by undocking their SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and deorbiting. This trip ends in splashing down off the coast of Florida.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A line in NASA\u2019s blog post about the most recent delay may point toward NASA looking at alternative timelines for Crew-2, which means a departure of Crew-2 before Crew-3 has a chance to relieve them in person.<\/p>\n<p>\t<span class=\"outbrain-ad-label\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t<script type=\"text\/plain\">\n\t\t\twindow.adSlotsConfig = window.adSlotsConfig || [];<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tadSlotsConfig.push( {\n\t\t\t\tslotID: '\/1049447\/Outbrain',\n\t\t\t\tslotName: 'div-gpt-ad-outbrain-ad-23680',\n\t\t\t\tsizes: [300, 250],\n\t\t\t\tslotPosition: 'mid_article'\n\t\t\t} );\n\t\t<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Mission teams are reviewing options including both direct and indirect handovers for the upcoming crew rotation at the microgravity laboratory.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIndirect\u201d refers to the departure of Crew-2 from the ISS before Crew-3 has arrived, most likely before they even launch.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-why-might-nasa-not-wait-for-crew-3-to-launch\">Why might NASA not wait for Crew-3 to launch?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The apparent solution is to push back the departure of Crew-2 until Crew-3 arrives. Direct handoffs keep the ISS at a full crew size of seven and allow the science output to stay at its current level. Seems simple, right?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the return of Crew-2 to Earth has more variables than just keeping the ISS crew size stacked. The SpaceX Dragon is only designed to stay on the station for 210 days (about seven months). Crew-2 launched to the ISS on April 23, making that 194 days in orbit as of the date of publish of this article. While 16 days seems like a lot to get a launch off, NASA probably doesn\u2019t want to tempt fate.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image wp-block-image--obfuscated\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/spaceexplored.com\/wp-content\/themes\/ninetofive\/dist\/images\/default-spaceexplored-related-guide.png\" alt=\"Site default logo image\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-possible-tight-payload-or-weather-timelines-for-crew-2-s-return\">Possible tight payload or weather timelines for Crew-2\u2019s return<\/h3>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The weather for Crew-2\u2019s splashdown is just as important as the weather for Crew-3\u2019s launch. Safe conditions for crew recovery are needed at the designated landing zone before spacecraft deorbit. If there\u2019s an opening before Crew-3\u2019s launch, NASA may take it rather than risk poorer conditions post-launch.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another idea could be the requirements of scientific experiments returning in Crew-2\u2019s Dragon. Along with the astronauts, SpaceX brings scientific experiments back for their ground-based researchers. NASA astronauts conduct a lot of research for many different entities on the ISS, so any number of items could be time-based.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NASA confirmed to Space Explored that \u201can indirect handover would be in play with additional delay in [Crew-3\u2019s] launch.\u201d However, they did not confirm whether any outside factors are at play or if a departure could occur this week.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-when-will-crew-2-return\">When will Crew-2 return?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Unknown. If Crew-2\u2019s return would happen this week, NASA should have already released details. If Crew-3 delays continue, that would be when an indirect handover would come into play. However, there is still a chance NASA will delay Crew-2\u2019s departure in favor of a direct handover, putting it sometime within the next two weeks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m sure Crew-2\u2019s Shane Kimbrough, Megan McArthur, Akihiko Hoshide, and Thomas Pesquet won\u2019t complain about having more time in space. It\u2019s a problem I wouldn\u2019t mind having, either.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"enjoy-reading-space-explored\">Enjoy reading Space Explored?<\/h3>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Help others find us by following on <strong>Apple News<\/strong> and <strong>Google News<\/strong>. Be sure to check us out on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, join our Discord!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019ve seen not one but two delays now for SpaceX\u2019s Crew-3 mission. While we hope for a speedy recovery for the crew member who suffered from the \u201cminor medical issue,\u201d we have to ask, What does this mean for the return home for Crew-2, the current residents of the ISS? SpaceX\u2019s Crew-3 is delayed 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-22409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22409"}],"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=22409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22409\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}