The command was passed on to ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet on October 4.
On April 27, JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide assumed command of the ISS. The Crew-2 astronauts had launched to the ISS on Apand docked into the orbital laboratory on April 24, 2021, joining the other crew members of Expedition 65. The change of command ceremony will take place on Saturday, November 6. Keeping in mind the possibility of such a situation, NASA and SpaceX have a backup undocking and splashdown opportunity available on Monday, November 8.Įndeavour's undocking depends on a variety of factors, including vehicle readiness, recovery team readiness, weather, and the state of the Atlantic Ocean. If weather conditions are not favourable on the planned dates for undocking and splashdown, the activities will take place a day after the scheduled date. Seven possible landing zones in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida have been targeted for the splashdown.
Endeavour will also bring back to Earth 530 pounds of hardware, besides scientific investigations. The spacecraft will undock autonomously from the orbital laboratory on Sunday, November 7, at 1:05 pm EST (Sunday, November 6 at 10:35 pm IST). The astronauts will return from the International Space Station in a Crew Dragon spacecraft, called Endeavour, and splash down off the coast of Florida. NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet will return to Earth after spending 199 days in space, as part of Expeditions 65 and 66. The Crew-3 mission is targeting a launch to the International Space Station on Thursday, November 10, at 9:03 pm EST (Friday, November 11, 6:33 am IST).ĪLSO READ | Indian-American Astronaut Raja Chari All Set For First Spaceflight, As Part Of NASA SpaceX Crew-3 Mission
The Crew-2 mission was the second crew rotation flight of a US commercial spacecraft to the ISS. This is just one more that we’ll encounter.NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 mission astronauts are scheduled to return on Monday, November 8, at 7:14 am EST (4:44 pm IST).
Spaceflight is full of lots of little challenges. “We are prepared to manage that in the time that we’re on board Dragon on the way home. “Of course, that’s suboptimal,” said McArthur. “It’s not going to be easy from the Dragon because it’s not designed for that, but we’ll try to get the best results for the people on the ground.”ĭuring their 18-hour return to Earth, the Crew-2 astronauts will not be able to use the toilet on the Crew Dragon because of a leak in the capsule’s waste management system. “We’ll back off from the station and then go around it, and while we’re going around it we’ll try to take as many pictures as we can,” he said. That will include looking at some specific areas, like docking ports and equipment on the station’s truss. “We don’t have that many opportunities to see the station from outside,” said Pesquet at the media event, noting that exterior cameras have limited views of parts of the station. When Endeavor undocks, it will fly around the station, performing a photo reconnaissance of the exterior. Kimbrough added that, if his crew left before Crew-3 arrived, that Mark Vande Hei, who flew to the station on a Soyuz spacecraft in April and will remain there until next March, will brief the new crew. “It’s the little things that we don’t get trained on, like eating and going to the bathroom and sleeping and those kinds of little tidbits that we would pass along to the next crew.” “A lot of that handover time that we’re scheduled with the next crew is just showing little things on living in space,” said Kimbrough during a Nov. The agency prefers a “direct” handover, when the new crew arrives before the old crew departs, rather than this “indirect” handover when the old crew leaves before the new crew arrives.Ī direct handover allows the outgoing crew to brief the incoming one. In statements earlier in the week, NASA hinted that it was considering bringing Crew-2 back before launching Crew-3. If the spacecraft does launch at that time, it would dock with the station at about 7:10 p.m. With Crew-2 returning home first, NASA has rescheduled the Crew-3 launch for no earlier than Nov. Unfavorable weather again pushed the launch back to no earlier than Nov. 6 because of a “minor medical issue” with one of the four astronauts. 3 by poor weather in abort landing zones in the Atlantic, and then to no earlier than Nov. That launch, previously scheduled for Oct. NASA elected to bring Crew-2 home before the launch of another Crew Dragon spacecraft, Endurance, on the Crew-3 mission.