SpaceX Dragon Capsule Splashes Down Safely After 6 Months in Orbit, But the Mission Got Off to a Harrowing StartThe company plans to launch its next manned flight to the ISS in September of 2022.
ByAmanda Breen•
SpaceX's Crew DragonEndurancesplashed down off the coast of Tampa early this morning, perNASA, bringing crew members safely back to Earth after almost six months in orbit following a mission to theInternational Space Stationthat got off to a terrifying start last fall.
On November 11, 2021,Endurancelaunched from the Kennedy Space Center with Crew-3 aboard,SpaceX's third operational Commercial Crew mission to the ISS, which included astronauts Raja Chari, Kayla Barron, Tom Marshburn and Matthias Maurer. They arrived at the station with over 400 pounds of supplies and hardware, 150 pounds of which consisted of research experiments to be conducted in the orbital labratory.
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Just a few days later, on November 15, debris generated by a destructive Russian Anti-Satellite (ASAT) test passed dangerously close to the ISS, forcing crew members to seek shelter aboard their spacecrafts. "I'm outraged by this irresponsible and destabilizing action," NASA administrator Bill Nelson said in astatementat the time. "With its long and storied history in human spaceflight, it is unthinkable that Russia would endanger not only the American and international partner astronauts on the ISS, but also their own cosmonauts."
Fortunately, theEndurance's splash down went off without a hitch this morning, only a few days afterSpaceX's DragonFreedom, which carried its Crew-4, arrived at the space station, making a direct handover possible.
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NASAdocumented theEndurance's mesmerizing return on its Twitter account.
And… splashdown! Dragon has safely made it home with precious cargo aboard: four#Crew3astronauts!
— NASA (@NASA)May 6, 2022
Now they wait for the recovery vehicle, which is named after Shannon Walker, mission specialist for the first crewed@SpaceXmission to the@Space_Station:pic.twitter.com/VDDXdsxkbH
And posted some celebratory photos of the crew's disembarkation.
The#Crew3mission is officially complete!
- NASA肯尼迪航天中心(@NASAKennedy)May 6, 2022
After launching from Kennedy on Nov. 10, 2021,@SpaceX's Dragon Endurance splashed down off the coast of Florida today at 12:43am ET, bringing@Astro_Raja,@AstroMarshburn, Kayla Barron, and@Astro_Matthiashome:https://t.co/wGNaM6g04xpic.twitter.com/48fiA9sNca
SpaceX plans to launch its next manned flight to the ISS in September of 2022.
