NASA & SpaceX - First Crewed Flight DM-2 patch.
August 1, 2020
Teams from NASA and SpaceX are proceeding with preparations to bring NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley home to Earth on Sunday, Aug. 2, after receiving a weather briefing this evening from the U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron.
Conditions remain “Go” at several of the needed target locations for splashdown and recovery off the Florida coast on Sunday aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon “Endeavour” spacecraft. NASA and SpaceX will make a decision on a primary splashdown target approximately 6 hours before undocking Saturday.
Image above: On Monday, March 30, 2020 at a SpaceX processing facility on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, SpaceX successfully completed a fully integrated test of critical crew flight hardware ahead of Crew Dragon’s second demonstration mission to the International Space Station for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program; the first flight test with astronauts onboard the spacecraft. NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley participated in the test, which included flight suit leak checks, spacecraft sound verification, display panel and cargo bin inspections, seat hardware rotations, and more. Image Credit: NASA.
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.
Crew Dragon undocking. Animation Credit: NASA
Undocking remains scheduled for approximately 7:34 p.m. EDT Saturday, Aug. 1, and splashdown at 2:42 p.m. EDT on Sunday. This will mark the first return of a commercially built and operated American spacecraft carrying astronauts from the space station, and it will wrap up NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission after more than two months at the International Space Station.
NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 return coverage is as follows (all times Eastern):
NASA TV: http://www.nasa.gov/live
Saturday, Aug. 1
9:10 a.m. – SpaceX Dragon Demo-2 Farewell Ceremony aboard the International Space Station (ceremony begins about 9:15 a.m.)
5:15 p.m. – NASA TV undocking coverage begins for the 7:34 p.m. undocking (NASA Television will have continuous coverage from undocking to splashdown)
Sunday, Aug. 2
2:42 p.m. – Splashdown
5 p.m. – Administrator post-splashdown news conference from the Johnson
Crew Dragon splashdown. Animation Credit: NASA
Space Center, with the following participants:
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine
Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
International Space Station representative
Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer, SpaceX
NASA Astronaut Office representative
Tuesday, Aug. 4
4:30 p.m. – Demo-2 crew news conference at Johnson, with the following participants:
NASA astronaut Bob Behnken
NASA astronaut Doug Hurley
The Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying Hurley and Behnken lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 30 and arrived at the space station the following day. The Demo-2 test flight is helping NASA certify SpaceX’s crew transportation system for regular flights carrying astronauts to and from the orbiting laboratory. SpaceX is readying the hardware for the first rotational mission, which would occur following NASA certification.
Related articles:
Astronauts Talk to Press on Friday Before Crew Dragon Departure
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/07/astronauts-talk-to-press-on-friday.html
NASA, SpaceX Preparing For Crew Return
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
Image (mentioned), Animations (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Tori Mclendon.
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