SpaceX - Dragon Crew-2 Mission patch.
Nov. 8, 2021
Crew-2 inside Crew Dragon Endeavor. Image Credit: NASA TV
Crew-2 Commander Shane Kimbrough and Pilot Megan McArthur are seen inside Crew Dragon Endeavour as they, along with Mission Specialists Aki Hoshide from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Thomas Pesquet representing the European Space Agency, prepared to close hatches between the spacecraft and International Space Station in preparation for their return home.
SpaceX Crew-2 “Endeavour” Crew Dragon Hatch Closure
The SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft with NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet inside undocked from the space-facing port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module at 2:05 p.m. EST to complete a nearly six-month science mission.
Image above: The SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour as it undocks from the International Space Station. Image Credit: NASA TV.
Endeavour will conduct a series of burns to perform a fly around maneuver to photograph the exterior of the International Space Station. Once the maneuver is completed, additional engine burns will send the spacecraft out of the vicinity of the station and put the Crew Dragon spacecraft on an orbital track that will return the astronaut crew and its cargo safely to the path to its intended splashdown off the coast of Pensacola, Florida.
SpaceX Crew-2 “Endeavour” Crew Dragon undocking, fly around and departure
Crew Dragon Endeavour will autonomously execute the departure burns to begin the flight home.
The return timeline with approximate times in EST is:
2:32 p.m. Fly around zenith to aft burn
2:54 p.m. Fly around aft to nadir burn
3:17 p.m. Fly around nadir to forward burn
3:39 p.m. Fly around forward to zenith burn
4:02 p.m. Departure burn 0
4:07 p.m. Departure burn 1
4:55 p.m. Departure burn 2
5:41 p.m. Departure burn 3
9:34 p.m. Trunk jettison
9:39 p.m. Deorbit burn begins
10:33 p.m. Crew Dragon splashdown
NASA will continue to provide live coverage until Endeavour splashes down off the coast of Florida and the Crew-2 astronauts are recovered from the Gulf of Mexico.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission launched April 23 on a Falcon 9 rocket from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and docked to the space station April 24.
Related articles:
NASA, SpaceX Adjust Crew-2 Station Departure Date
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/11/nasa-spacex-adjust-crew-2-station.html
Coverage Set for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 Return to Earth
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/coverage-set-for-nasa-s-spacex-crew-2-return-to-earth
NASA SpaceX Crew-2 to Discuss Station Mission, Upcoming Splashdown
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/11/nasa-spacex-crew-2-to-discuss-station.html
NASA, SpaceX Reviewing Commercial Crew Rotation Plans
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/11/nasa-spacex-reviewing-commercial-crew.html
Related links:
NASA Television: https://www.nasa.gov/live
Commercial Crew: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html
International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
Images (mentioned), Videos, Text, Credits: NASA/Danielle Sempsrott/NASA TV/SciNews.
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