The unpressurized trunk section of the Crew Dragon has separated from the spacecraft. The next major milestone will be the deorbit burn, coming up in about five minutes. On board the Crew Dragon, NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley are wrapping up their time in space on the agency’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission, which included more than two months at the International Space Station.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 crew members, NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, is slated to begin the trip back to Earth today at the conclusion of an end-to-end flight test to the International Space Station. NASA and SpaceX are targeting splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, at approximately 2:48 p.m. EDT. This is the first return of a commercially built and operated American spacecraft carrying astronauts from the International Space Station.
Weather conditions remain within the splashdown weather criteria and are “Go” at the primary targeted site.
Coming up, the Crew Dragon’s trunk will separate from the spacecraft, followed by the deorbit burn, which begins at 1:56 p.m. EDT. The “Go” for the deorbit burn was relayed to the crew at 12:58 p.m. EDT by SpaceX Crew Operations and Resources Engineer (CORE) Mike Heiman.
Here is a look at the upcoming milestones (all times Eastern):
The Crew Dragon undocked from the International Space Station yesterday at 7:35 p.m. EDT, ending 63 days of docked operations at the orbiting laboratory. 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.
More details about the return can be found in the Top 10 Things to Know for NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 Return.
NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley are just hours away from splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. Splashdown remains scheduled for 2:48 p.m. EDT following a nearly two-month test flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
Pensacola, Florida remains the prime location with Go Navigator as the recovery vessel. The recovery boat departed its port at 9:20 a.m. to stage for recovery operations in the Gulf of Mexico. Go Navigator is operating with a fully functioning generator and is ready to support splashdown operations this afternoon. Earlier this morning, a backup generator failed on the recovery ship prior to leaving port, but that is not considered an impact for normal recovery operations. The recovery vessel still has full capability to safely recover the spacecraft and crew.
Return conditions remain “Go” at the primary and alternate targeted sites.
The duo arrived at the International Space Station on May 31, following a successful launch on May 30 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During their 62 days aboard station, Behnken and Hurley contributed more than 100 hours of time to supporting the orbiting laboratory’s investigations, participated in public engagement events, and supported four spacewalks with Behnken and Cassidy to install new batteries in the station’s power grid and upgrade other station hardware.
More details about the return can be found in the Top 10 Things to Know for NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 Return and the splashdown weather criteria fact sheet.
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 Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley have begun their final day in orbit inside the Crew Dragon “Endeavour” spacecraft ahead of splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico at 2:48 p.m. EDT this afternoon.
NASA’s live coverage of the return continues.
To wake them, Mission Control Hawthorne played the dads an audio message from their sons.
Conditions remain “Go” at the primary targeted site, off the coast of Pensacola, and alternate site off the coast of Panama City in the Gulf of Mexico for splashdown and recovery.
Here’s the timeline for return activities (all times Eastern):
Crew Dragon autonomously undocked from the International Space Station’s Harmony module at 7:35 p.m. Saturday, two very small engine burns separating Crew Dragon from the station, and the spacecraft slowly maneuvered away from the orbital laboratory. Once flying free, Dragon Endeavour autonomously executed four departure burns that moved the spaceship away from the space station and the crew began the flight home. A phasing burn overnight put it on its path toward Pensacola.
The duo 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. During their 62 days aboard station, Behnken and Hurley contributed more than 100 hours of time to supporting the orbiting laboratory’s investigations, participated in public engagement events, and supported four spacewalks with Behnken and Cassidy to install new batteries in the station’s power grid and upgrade other station hardware.
More details about the return can be found in the Top 10 Things to Know for NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 Return and the splashdown weather criteria fact sheet.
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’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission passed a significant milestone this evening as the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station at 7:35 p.m. EDT after more than two months of docked operations in orbit. Astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, traveling aboard the spacecraft they named “Endeavour,” will spend one more night in space before beginning their journey back to Earth on Sunday in the first return of a commercially built and operated American spacecraft carrying astronauts from the space station.
With the spacecraft on its path home, the astronauts will settle in for an eight-hour sleep period. While they’re asleep, a six-minute departure phasing burn at 1:48 a.m. EDT Sunday, Aug. 2 will set the Dragon Endeavour on the proper orbital path to a planned splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida.
It was an honor and privilege to be part of Expedition 63. Thanks to @Astro_SEAL, Anatoly, & @ivan_mks63 for making our stay on @Space_Station an incredible experience. Now it’s time to finish our DM-2 test flight in order to pave the way for future Dragon crews. Go Endeavour! https://t.co/9zTMPhc7kw
— Col. Doug Hurley (@Astro_Doug) August 2, 2020
The deorbit burn, which slows the spacecraft’s forward speed enough to begin its descent, is scheduled for 1:51 p.m. EDT on Sunday, with splashdown at 2:48 p.m. EDT. Teams continue to closely monitor Hurricane Isaias and evaluate impacts to the landing sites in the Gulf of Mexico along the Florida Panhandle. Teams have several weather decision milestones ahead of and after undocking to adjust the splashdown location and time based on the forecasted conditions for recovery.
Follow along with the return and recovery activities here on the blog and on NASA Television.
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. During their 63 days aboard the station, Behnken and Hurley contributed more than 100 hours of time to supporting the orbiting laboratory’s investigations, participated in public engagement events, and supported four spacewalks with Behnken and Cassidy to install new batteries in the station’s power grid and upgrade other station hardware.
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.
The test flight also is helping NASA certify SpaceX’s crew transportation system for regular flights carrying astronauts to and from the space station. SpaceX is readying the hardware for the first rotational mission, which would occur following NASA certification.
The fourth and final departure burn, helping to send the Crew Dragon spacecraft along on its journey back to Earth, is complete. Coming up next, in a little over an hour, Crew Dragon’s Draco thrusters will begin the departure phasing burn.
Crew Dragon has now completed three out of a series of four departure burns – the count starting at departure burn zero while undocking from the International Space Station – moving the spacecraft below and in front of the space station’s orbit.
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft has exited the approach ellipsoid, an imaginary boundary surrounding the International Space Station. Four kilometers long, two kilometers wide, and two kilometers deep, the approach ellipsoid governs all vehicles coming or going from the orbiting laboratory.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon, having undocked from the International Space Station at 7:35 p.m. EDT, is now moving away from the orbiting laboratory. The spacecraft just exited the Keep Out Sphere, an imaginary boundary extending 200 meters out from the station. NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, aboard Crew Dragon, are beginning the return trip to Earth, signaling the upcoming conclusion of the agency’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission, and end-to-end flight test designed to help certify SpaceX’s crew transportation system for regular crewed flights to and from the station under the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.
“It’s been a great two months, and we appreciate all you’ve done as a crew to help us prove out Dragon on its maiden flight,” said Hurley, addressing Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy and Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner following Crew Dragon’s departure from the orbiting laboratory.
Behnken and Hurley will spend the night in orbit before beginning the journey home. Splashdown is scheduled for 2:48 p.m. EDT on Sunday.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft is departing the International Space Station, and NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Benhken are officially beginning their journey home. The spacecraft undocked from International Docking Adapter-2 at the forward end of the station’s Harmony node at 7:35 p.m. EDT. Two short firings of Dragon Endeavour’s Draco thrusters gently push the spacecraft away from the orbiting laboratory. Later, a series of four departure burns will further increase the distance between the two vehicles.
