Two astronauts aboard Space X’s Crew Dragon departed the International Space Station on Saturday night and are scheduled to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico near the Florida Panhandle city of Pensacola.
In May, NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley traveled to the space station on the first commercial capsule to orbit the Earth, The New York Times reported. The capsule was built and run by Space X, the private rocket company founded by billionaire Elon Musk.
NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine told WFTV that the agency and SpaceX chose Pensacola as the splashdown area due to Isaias, a tropical storm in the Atlantic that was expected to reintensify overnight and threaten Florida’s east coast.
This photo of Hurricane Isaias was taken a few hours ago as it travels northwest between Cuba and the Bahamas. I hope the people in its path stay safe and I hope it doesn’t disrupt our return to Earth on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/nkyldd7NhF
— Col. Doug Hurley (@Astro_Doug) July 31, 2020
The capsule is expected to splash down in the Gulf at 2:41 p.m. on Sunday, the television station reported.
The capsule uncoupled from the space station at 7:35 p.m. EDT, the Times reported.
"Dragon departing." The @SpaceX Dragon Endeavour undocked and separated from @Space_Station. @AstroBehnken & @Astro_Doug are on their way home to planet Earth. pic.twitter.com/VHYSblw3kU
— NASA (@NASA) August 1, 2020
“It’s been a great two months and we appreciate all you’ve done to help us prove Dragon for its maiden flight,” Hurley radioed to SpaceX mission control. “We look forward to splashdown tomorrow.”
“Safe travels and have a successful landing. Endeavour’s a great ship. Godspeed,” NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, the space station’s commanding officer, responded to the astronauts.
The splashdown will be the first water landing for U.S. astronauts since a joint U.S-Soviet Union in 1975, The Washington Post reported. Four parachutes will open after the 21,200-pound capsule re-enters the atmosphere at temperatures that could approach 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit, the newspaper reported.
“Out the window, it’s all orange, and it’s glowing, and it’s quite a sight,” Garrett Reisman, a former NASA astronaut who flew two shuttle missions, told the Post. “But you don’t feel anything. You know you don’t want to be out there because its thousands of degrees, but on the inside it’s pretty cool. It’s very comfortable.”
“The hardest part was getting us launched, but the most important part is bringing us home,” Behnken said Saturday morning on the space station.
The two most important items coming home on Dragon Endeavour (besides @Astro_Doug & @AstroBehnken, of course)? The American flag that was delivered to @Space_Station on the final Space Shuttle mission in 2011 and Tremor, Jack and Theo’s 0-g indicating apatosaurus. 🇺🇸🦕 pic.twitter.com/9d7eEHzU0x
— Karen L. Nyberg (@AstroKarenN) August 1, 2020
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