CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The astronauts of SpaceX’s Crew-2 mission are scheduled to depart the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 7), and you may watch the motion reside on-line.
After spending simply shy of 200 days in space, NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, together with Akihiko Hoshide of Japan and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Thomas Pesquet, will say goodbye to their crewmates on the orbital outpost Sunday and board their Crew Dragon capsule, named Endeavour, for the journey again to Earth.
The hatches between Endeavour and the station are scheduled to shut at 10:15 a.m. EST (1515 GMT) on Sunday, with undocking following at 12:04 p.m. EST (1704 GMT). The capsule will splash down off the coast of Florida early Monday morning (Nov. 8), if all goes in line with plan.
Live updates: SpaceX’s Crew-2 and Crew-3 astronaut missions
You can watch all of this motion reside on the Space.com homepage, courtesy of NASA, or directly via the space agency. Coverage will start at 9:45 a.m. EST (1445 GMT) Sunday, drop off after hatch closure, after which choose up once more at 11:45 a.m. EST (1645 GMT) for depature. Coverage will likely be steady from then till splashdown, NASA officers stated.
This timeline continues to be tentative, nevertheless. NASA and SpaceX officers stated that the climate stays a giant think about when the crew can come house, with the ultimate “go/no go” name taking place only some hours earlier than Endeavour is scheduled to undock. If the climate is just too poor at all the seven potential splashdown websites, mission crew members will goal a backup window on Monday for each undocking and splashdown.
“We’ll keep crossing our fingers there on the weather,” Sarah Walker, SpaceX’s director of Dragon mission administration, instructed reporters throughout a information briefing on Saturday (Nov. 6). NASA and SpaceX plan to carry Endeavour down within the Gulf of Mexico, reasonably than within the Atlantic Ocean, Walker added.
According to Walker, floor wind speeds on the candidate splashdown websites are at the moment barely above the edge that enables crews to land safely. Teams are continuing towards undocking at 12:04 p.m. EST (1704 GMT) on Sunday however will reassess every thing early Sunday morning. At that point, if the winds have died down sufficient that the crew can land safely, the groups will proceed as deliberate. If not, they may goal the backup try for undocking on Monday.
The Crew-2 astronauts had been scheduled to do a fly-around maneuver after undocking, by which they circle the space station within the Dragon capsule and take images. This exercise was designed to permit crews and people on the bottom to examine the growing older space station’s exterior and see if there are any areas that want consideration.
“This is a procedure that we used to do with the space shuttle back in the day,” Pesquet instructed reporters on Friday afternoon (Nov. 5) throughout a media briefing. “The reason is because we don’t have that many opportunities to see the station from outside.”
Pesquet added that there are cameras mounted on the station’s exterior, however they’re restricted in quantity and scope, so a flyaround would enable the crew to {photograph} completely different targets comparable to docking ports and different exterior buildings that they won’t be capable to see in any other case.
Unfortunately, on account of climate issues, NASA officers stated throughout Saturday’s briefing that this maneuver will not occur if Endeavour does certainly depart on Sunday. This choice offers the groups the very best likelihood to focus on a secure touchdown alternative for the crew. If the departure will get pushed to Monday, the groups will reassess whether or not or to not carry out a flyaround on that day, NASA officers stated.
If the Crew-2 astronauts do depart Sunday and splash down Monday, SpaceX will be capable to help its subsequent astronaut launch to the station, that of the Crew-3 mission, as early as Wednesday night (Nov. 10).
Currently, NASA and SpaceX are focusing on a Wednesday liftoff at 9:03 p.m. EST (0203 GMT on Thursday, Nov. 11) for Crew-3, which is able to ship NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron and ESA’s Matthias Maurer to the orbital outpost for six months.
If Crew-3 does launch Wednesday night time as deliberate, it should arrive on the space station lower than 24 hours later, round 7:10 p.m. EST on Thursday (1210 GMT on Nov. 12).
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