Category: NASA

NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley splashed down safely in the Gulf of Mexico Sunday afternoon aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon “Endeavour,” wrapping up a two-month, 27.1-million-mile mission to the International Space Station on the agency’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission. Today’s splashdown at 2:48 p.m. EDT off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, marked the first time a commercially built and operated American crew spacecraft returned from the International Space Station.

After the successful splashdown, the capsule and crew were successfully recovered by SpaceX. The astronauts are on their way back to Houston, where they will be reunited with their families. Beginning at 7:15 p.m. EDT, NASA will provide live coverage of their arrival and return to Houston.

“It really is a great day; I’m almost speechless as to how well things went today with the deorbit, entry, landing, and recovery of Bob and Doug,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, during a post-splashdown briefing. “Coming into today, we had three flight objectives: to execute the deorbit and entry of the Dragon capsule, to demonstrate that we could successfully recover that capsule, and that we could also bring back cargo from space. I think we demonstrated all three of those things today. It was just an incredible day.”

The Dragon Endeavour capsule was hoisted from the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and onto the deck of the company’s recovery vessel, “GO Navigator.”

“I have to do a call out to the great SpaceX team; they did extraordinary work. This was an incredibly smooth mission,” said Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer at SpaceX. “This was an extraordinary mission, an extraordinary day for NASA, for SpaceX, and frankly, for Americans and anyone interested in spaceflight.”

Behnken and Hurley arrived at the orbiting laboratory on May 31, following a successful launch on May 30 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

“For 60-plus days, Bob and Doug, the SpaceX team, the Commercial Crew Program, and SpaceX vehicle were on board doing critical science for us,” said NASA’s International Space Station Program Manager Joel Montalbano. “Bob and Doug completed over 110 hours of science, utilization, research, and technology development work that will help this great laboratory that we have in low-Earth orbit and allow us to go to the Moon and to Mars with the Artemis program.”

These activities are a part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which has been working with the U.S. aerospace industry to launch astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from American soil the International Space Station for the first time since 2011. This is SpaceX’s final test flight and is providing data on the performance of the Falcon 9 rocket, Crew Dragon spacecraft and ground systems, as well as in-orbit, docking, splashdown and recovery operations.

Dragon Endeavour will be returned to the SpaceX “Dragon Lair” in Florida for inspection and processing. Teams will examine the data and performance of the spacecraft throughout the test flight to complete the certification of the system to fly operational missions for NASA’s Commercial Crew and International Space Station Programs. The certification process is expected to take about six weeks. Following successful certification, the first operational mission, Crew-1, will launch with Crew Dragon commander Michael Hopkins, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Shannon Walker – all of NASA – along with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) mission specialist Soichi Noguchi. That launch is targeted for late September.

“On behalf of Crew-1 and our families, we want to say congratulations to Bob and Doug their families,” Hopkins said, with Walker, Glover and Noguchi beside him. “We’ve had an opportunity to witness the work and dedication it’s taken to pull off the Demo-2 mission, and it’s been truly impressive and inspiring.”

“As you can imagine, we’ve got big smiles on our faces from what we saw from the Demo-2 mission. I said this after the launch, and I’m going to say it again after watching splashdown: it did not seem like this was the first NASA-SpaceX mission with astronauts on board,” Hopkins added.

The goal of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is safe, reliable and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station. This could allow for additional research time and increase the opportunity for discovery aboard humanity’s testbed for exploration, including helping us prepare for human exploration of the Moon and Mars.

“We need to remember that this is just the beginning. Now is the time to capitalize on all the great programs that have recently been established, to include going sustainably to the Moon under a program we call Artemis,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “We’re going to the Moon sustainably; we’re going to go with commercial partners, with international partners. We’re going to use the resources of the Moon to learn how to live and work on another world for long periods of time. We’re going to take all of that knowledge and we’re going to go to Mars.”

Beginning at 4:45 p.m. EDT, NASA will provide live coverage of a news conference following a successful splashdown and recovery of NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley in the SpaceX Crew Dragon “Endeavour” to complete the SpaceX Demo-2 test flight.  

Participants in the news conference from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston are: 

• NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine 
• Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer at SpaceX 
• Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program 
• Joel Montalbano, manager of NASA’s International Space Station Program 
• SpaceX Crew-1 astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker of NASA, and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) 

Dragon Endeavour splashed down off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, at 2:48 p.m. EDT to complete a 64-day mission since their launch May 30 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Crew Dragon hatch was opened at 3:59 p.m., and Behnken and Hurley exited the spacecraft onto the Go Navigator for initial medical checks before returning to shore by helicopter. Once returned to shore, both crew members will immediately board a waiting NASA plane to fly back to Ellington field in Houston. 

 Hurley and Behnken arrived to the International Space Station May 31 and spent 62 days supporting science and research aboard the orbiting laboratory as part of Expedition 63.  

Demo-2 is SpaceX’s final test flight and is providing data on the performance of the Falcon 9 rocket, Crew Dragon spacecraft and ground systems, as well as in-orbit, docking, splashdown, and recovery operations. The data will inform NASA’s certification of the SpaceX crew transportation system for regular flights carrying astronauts to and from the space station. SpaceX is readying the hardware for the first rotational mission that will occur following NASA certification, which is expected to take about six weeks. 

More details about the mission and NASA’s commercial crew program can be found in the press kit online and by following the commercial crew blog, @commercial_crew and commercial crew on Facebook. 

Learn more about station activities by following @space_station and @ISS_Research  

on Twitter as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts. 

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon “Endeavour” now; they’ll move to a medical area on the recovery ship for initial medical checks. A helicopter will take the astronauts to Pensacola Naval Air Station, where they’ll board a waiting NASA plane to fly back to Ellington Field in Houston.

Behnken and Hurley splashed down safely in the SpaceX Crew Dragon “Endeavour” in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, at 2:48 p.m. EDT. It is the first time a commercially built and operated American crew spacecraft has returned from the International Space Station to complete a test flight, beginning a new era in human spaceflight.

Meanwhile, Dragon Endeavour will be returned to the SpaceX “Dragon Lair” in Florida for inspection and processing. Teams will examine the data and performance of the spacecraft throughout the test flight to complete the certification of the system to fly operational missions for NASA’s Commercial Crew and International Space Station Programs. The certification process is expected to take about six weeks.

Following successful certification, the first operational mission, Crew-1, will launch with Crew Dragon commander Michael Hopkins, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Shannon Walker – all of NASA – along with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) mission specialist Soichi Noguchi.

The Crew Dragon spacecraft’s side hatch was opened at 3:59 p.m. EDT and teams are standing by to see NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley emerge.

NASA astronaut Doug Hurley reported to SpaceX that he and crewmate Bob Behnken are doing fine inside the Crew Dragon “Endeavour,” which is now on the deck of the company’s recovery vessel, “GO Navigator.”

“We’re good; keep doing what you’re doing,” Hurley said.

Recovery teams are continuing a purge of the spacecraft’s service section in order to bring trace readings of remaining hypergol vapors all the way down to zero prior to opening the side hatch. The service section is located between the pressure vessel – the cabin in which Behnken and Hurley are patiently waiting – and the outer surface of the spacecraft.

Behnken and Hurley splashed down safely in the SpaceX Crew Dragon “Endeavour” in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, at 2:48 p.m. EDT, bringing to an end the NASA SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, with NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley still inside, has been hoisted onto the deck of the company’s “GO Navigator” recovery vessel.

Right now, the team is monitoring remnant vapors around the spacecraft and working to purge its service section prior to opening the hatch for the astronauts inside.

Crew Dragon “Endeavour” splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, at 2:48 p.m. EDT. It is the first time a commercially built and operated American crew spacecraft has returned from the International Space Station to complete a test flight, beginning a new era in human spaceflight.

The SpaceX recovery vessel, “GO Navigator,” is expected to reach the Crew Dragon spacecraft in about 20 minutes. The rigging needed to pull the vehicle out of the water is being affixed. NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 crew members, Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, report that they can see the fastboat personnel working outside their spacecraft.

NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley report they are feeling good inside the Crew Dragon spacecraft following splashdown minutes ago in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida.

The recovery process should take about 45 minutes to an hour. Two fast boats carrying SpaceX personnel have deployed from the main recovery ship and are on their way to the Crew Dragon. The first boat will check the spacecraft and test for hazardous vapors in the immediate area. After they determine it’s safe, the Crew Dragon will be readied for recovery. Meanwhile, those aboard the second fast boat will recover the spacecraft’s parachutes from the water. The main recovery ship will hoist the Crew Dragon onto the deck, and once the hatch is opened, medical teams will check out the astronauts and help them out of the spacecraft.

 

NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission has ended with the Crew Dragon spacecraft successfully splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley remain safely inside the spacecraft as recovery ships move toward them. This is the first return of a commercially built and operated American spacecraft carrying astronauts from the International Space Station.

“And Endeavour, on behalf of the SpaceX and NASA teams, welcome back to planet Earth, and thanks for flying SpaceX,” said SpaceX Crew Operations and Resources Engineer (CORE) Mike Heiman.

The Crew Dragon undocked from the International Space Station yesterday at 7:35 p.m. EDT, ending more than two months of docked operations at the orbiting laboratory during NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission. Hurley and Behnken arrived at the orbiting laboratory in the Crew Dragon May 31 following a launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 30 – the first flight of American astronauts on an American-built spacecraft from American soil in nearly a decade.

Demo-2 tested the performance of the entire SpaceX crew transportation system, from launch to docking to splashdown. It was the final flight test for the system to be certified for regular crew flights to the station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

Under the canopy of its four main parachutes, the Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley is descending toward a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico off Pensacola, Florida. Recovery ships are standing by. NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission, the final flight test for the SpaceX crew transportation system for the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, is nearly complete.