Crew-2 Commander Shane Kimbrough and Pilot Megan McArthur monitor information inside Crew Dragon during their go back to Earth on November 8, 2021. Credit: NASA
The Crew-2 mission launched on April 23 on a Falcon 9 rocket from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Team Dragon Endeavour docked to the Harmony modules forward port of the space station April 24, nearly 24-hours after liftoff.
Kimbrough, McArthur, Hoshide, and Pesquet traveled 84,653,119 statute miles throughout their objective, stayed 198 days aboard the spaceport station, and completed 3,194 orbits around Earth.
Throughout their objective, the Crew-2 astronauts contributed to a host of science and upkeep activities, clinical examinations, and innovation presentations. In addition, they performed four spacewalks and numerous public engagement occasions while aboard the orbiting laboratory. They studied how gaseous flames behave in microgravity, grew hatch green chiles in the stations Plant Habitat Facility, set up free-flying robotic assistants, and even wore virtual reality safety glasses to evaluate brand-new methods of exercising in area, among numerous other clinical activities. The astronauts took numerous images of Earth as part of the Crew Earth Observation investigation, among the longest-running examinations aboard the spaceport station, which contributes to tracking of natural catastrophes and changes to our home world.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour as it undocks from the International Space Station. Credit: NASA
Kimbrough, Hoshide, and Pesquet likewise finished four spacewalks to install, release, or otherwise get ready for installation of ISS Roll-out Solar Arrays. This brought the total number of spacewalks for Kimbrough, Hoshide, and Pesquet to 9, four, and six, respectively. The fourth spacewalk, performed by Hoshide and Pesquet on September 12, was the very first in the history of the spaceport station that did not include an American or Russian.
On July 21, all four Crew-2 astronauts boarded Endeavour for a port relocation maneuver, moving their spacecraft from the forward-facing port to the space-facing port on the stations Harmony module.
The Crew-2 flight is part of NASAs Commercial Crew Program, which has worked with the U.S. aerospace industry to release astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from American soil to the spaceport station. The splashdown of Crew-2 comes prior to the launch of NASAs SpaceX Crew-3 objective, currently arranged for no earlier than Wednesday, Nov. 10, on another long period mission of approximately six months.
Endeavour will return for assessment and processing to SpaceXs Dragon Lair in Florida, where teams will examine the spacecrafts information and efficiency throughout the flight.
Following Crew-3s launch, the next NASA and SpaceX crew rotation mission is Crew-4, currently targeted for launch in April 2022. Crew-3 astronauts are scheduled to return to Earth shortly after welcoming their Crew-4 coworkers to the orbiting laboratory.
The goal of NASAs Commercial Crew Program is safe, reliable, and cost-effective transport to and from the International Space Station. This currently has supplied extra research time and has increased the chance for discovery aboard humankinds microgravity testbed for exploration, consisting of assisting NASA prepare for human exploration of the Moon and Mars.
Credit: NASA TELEVISION
NASAs SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts safely crashed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida Monday aboard the Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft, finishing the agencys second long-duration commercial team objective to the International Space Station. The objective set a record for the longest spaceflight by a U.S. crewed spacecraft. The worldwide team of 4 invested 199 days in orbit, going beyond the 168 days set by NASAs SpaceX Crew-1 mission previously this year.
NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet went back to Earth in a parachute-assisted splashdown at 10:33 p.m. EST off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. Teams aboard SpaceX healing vessels effectively recovered the spacecraft and astronauts. After going back to shore, the astronauts will fly back to NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston.
” Were delighted to have Shane, Megan, Aki, and Thomas safely back in the world after another effective, record-setting long-duration mission to the International Space Station,” said NASA administrator Bill Nelson. “Congratulations to the groups at NASA and SpaceX who worked so hard to guarantee their effective splashdown. NASAs Commercial Crew Program continues to demonstrate safe, trusted transportation to carry out essential science and maintenance on the area station.”
NASAs SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts securely sprinkled down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida Monday aboard the Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft, finishing the companys second long-duration industrial crew mission to the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet returned to Earth in a parachute-assisted splashdown at 10:33 p.m. EST off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. After returning to coast, the astronauts will fly back to NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston.
” Were happy to have Shane, Megan, Aki, and Thomas securely back on Earth after another successful, record-setting long-duration objective to the International Space Station,” said NASA administrator Bill Nelson. NASAs Commercial Crew Program continues to demonstrate safe, trustworthy transportation to carry out essential science and maintenance on the space station.”