Tag: Down

Crew-5 Team Splashes Down Off the Florida Coast

CNN reported that the four astronauts “who make up the Crew-5 team aboard the International Space Station returned home from a five-month stay in space Saturday, splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico.” The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule “disembarked from the space station at 2:20 am ET, beginning the final leg of the astronauts’ journey.” The spacecraft “then maneuvered back toward Earth before plunging back into the atmosphere for a landing off the coast of Tampa, Florida[,] just after 9 p.m. ET Saturday.” The capsule was hauled out of the ocean by rescue ships and the astronauts then got to breath fresh air for the first time in five months. The four crew members – NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, astronaut Koichi Wakata of JAXA, and cosmonaut Anna Kikina of the Russian space agency Roscosmos – “launched to the space station aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule this past October.”
Full Story (CNN)

 

 Video

Dragon and Crew-5 NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, along with JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina splash down off the Florida coast at 9:02 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 11, after 157 days in space.
(SpaceX; YouTube)

US Shoots Down Chinese Spy Balloon

The New York Times reported that “the United States shot down a Chinese spy balloon on Saturday.” The balloon “spent five days traveling in a diagonal southeast route from Idaho to the Carolinas” and “was shot down within moments of its arrival over the Atlantic Ocean,” off the coast of South Carolina. “One of two F-22 fighter jets from Langley Air Force Base fired a Sidewinder air-to-air missile, downing the balloon, which was flying at an altitude of 60,000 to 65,000 feet. The F-22s were at 58,000 feet, with other American fighters in support.”
Full Story (New York Times)

Voyager Spacecraft to Power Down Systems after 44 Years

The Daily Mail (UK) reports that NASA is considering a potential timeline for the powering-down of the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft after 44 years of operation. NASA “is now planning to begin turning off some of the Voyagers’ systems in the hope of eking out the spacecrafts’ remaining power to extend their journeys to about 2030.”
Full Story (Daily Mail (UK))