NASA & SpaceX - First Crewed Flight DM-2 patch.
August 2, 2020
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.
Animation above: SpaceX’s first Crew Dragon parachutes to a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean during the uncrewed Demo-1 mission on March 8, 2019. Animation Credit: NASA.
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.
Image above: NASA’s first commercial crew astronauts (from left) Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are pictured at Kennedy Space Center for tests aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon vehicle. Image Credit: SpaceX.
Return conditions remain “Go” at the primary and alternate targeted sites.
NASA’s live coverage of the return continues: http://www.nasa.gov/live
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.
Related articles:
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https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/08/astronauts-wake-up-prep-crew-dragon-for.html
Endeavour Spacecraft Undocked from Station
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/08/endeavour-spacecraft-undocked-from.html
NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2: Weather Remains ‘GO’ for Return, Live Coverage Today
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/08/nasas-spacex-demo-2-weather-remains-go.html
Astronauts Talk to Press on Friday Before Crew Dragon Departure
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/astronauts-talk-to-press-on-friday.html
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https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/nasa-spacex-preparing-for-crew-return.html
Top 10 Things to Know for NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 Return
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/top-10-things-to-know-for-nasas-spacex.html
Related links:
Splashdown weather criteria fact sheet: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/ccp_splashdown.pdf
Commercial Crew Program: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html
International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
Animation (mentioned), Image (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.
Best regards, Orbiter.ch
