The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft with NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina inside undocked from the forward-facing port of the International Space Stations Harmony module on March 11 to finish a nearly six-month science objective. The SpaceX Dragon Endurance, which will carry Crew-5 back to Earth, is seen docked to the area station prior to its departure. The 11-member team aboard the International Space Station provide thumbs up signs in this picture from March 6, 2023. New Flight Engineers Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg from NASA, Sultan Alneyadi of UAE (United Arab Emirates) and Andrey Fedyaev docked to the station aboard the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour on March 3. All however Fedyaev had the day off as they will get up early and support their departing 4 crewmates when they enter the Crew Dragon Endurance and undock from the station.
The SpaceX Dragon Endurance undocked from the space station at 2:20 a.m. EST, starting Crew-5s journey back to Earth. Credit: NASA TELEVISION
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft with NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina inside undocked from the forward-facing port of the International Space Stations Harmony module on March 11 to complete a nearly six-month science mission. Hatch closure was at 12:29 a.m. EST and undocking occurred at 2:20 a.m. EST
. The SpaceX Dragon Endurance, which will bring Crew-5 back to Earth, is seen docked to the space station prior to its departure. Credit: NASA TELEVISION
NASA protection of Crew-5s return will continue with audio just, and complete protection will resume at the start of the splashdown broadcast. Real-time audio in between Crew-5 and flight controllers at NASAs Mission Audio stream will remain readily available and consists of conversations with astronauts aboard the area station and a live video feed from the orbiting lab.
NASA TV protection will resume at 8 p.m. Saturday till Endurance splashes down at around 9:02 p.m. EST near Tampa off the coast of Florida and Crew-5 members are recuperated.
SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, called Endurance, take off from Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on October 5, 2022, for the Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
NASAs SpaceX Crew-5 mission introduced on October 5, 2022, on a Falcon 9 rocket from the firms Kennedy Space Center in Florida and docked to the spaceport station the next day.
The 11-member team aboard the International Space Station give thumbs up check in this portrait from March 6, 2023. In the bottom row from left are Flight Engineers Andrey Fedyaev of Roscosmos, Sultan Alneyadi from UAE (United Arab Emirates), and Woody Hoburg from NASA In the center row from left are Flight Engineers Anna Kikina from Roscosmos, Koichi Wakata from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), Nicole Mann from NASA, Dmitri Petelin from Roscosmos, and Frank Rubio from NASA. In the back are Flight Engineer Stephen Bowen from NASA, Commander Sergey Prokopyev from Roscosmos, and Flight Engineer Josh Cassada from NASA. Credit: NASA.
Before the Crew-5 departure, it was an unwinded Friday aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as crew swap activities started unwinding ahead of the go back to Earth of 4 team members on Saturday. 3 cosmonauts remained busy at the end of the week, however, working on orbital family upkeep jobs.
Exploration 68 Flight Engineers Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada of NASA, Koichi Wakata of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and Anna Kikina of Roscosmos were in their final complete day aboard the spaceport station. The quartet had a light duty day getting in a final exercise session prior to going to sleep early to get ready for their overnight departure activities.
The orbiting labs four newest crewmates have actually finished their very first week of station orientation and orientation tasks. New Flight Engineers Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg from NASA, Sultan Alneyadi of UAE (United Arab Emirates) and Andrey Fedyaev docked to the station aboard the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour on March 3. All but Fedyaev had the day off as they will get up early and support their leaving four crewmates when they go into the Crew Dragon Endurance and undock from the station.
Flight Engineer Frank Rubio, who has been aboard the station given that September 21, also had a light duty day spending just over an hour on the Food Physiology research study before going to sleep early with his departing crewmates. Rubio will be helping the homebound crew prior to their Saturday departure.
Cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin, station commander and flight engineer respectively, invested Friday working their normal shift servicing a variety of station electronics hardware. Fedyaev spent his day repairing power supply systems and cleaning ventilation fans and filters.