Tag: return

SpaceX Astronauts Splash Down in Pacific for First Time

The New York Times reports that four private astronauts ended a mission in a SpaceX vehicle on Friday by splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, marking a first for the company. “The Fram2 mission had circled the Earth for four days in a north-south orbit. The journey was the first time people have been able to look down directly at the North and South Poles from orbit.”
Full Story (New York Times – Subscription Publication)



Video

Fram2 Astronauts Launch on Polar Orbit Mission (Splashdown occurs at 08:12)
(VideoFromSpace; YouTube)

Mission to Retrieve Stuck Astronauts Delayed

Reuters reports, “NASA and SpaceX on Wednesday delayed the launch of a replacement crew of four astronauts to the International Space Station that would have set in motion the long-awaited homecoming of U.S. astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. NASA had been set to launch a SpaceX rocket from Florida carrying a replacement crew for the International Space Station in a mission that would set up the return to Earth of Wilmore and Williams – stuck in space for nine months after a trip on Boeing’s faulty Starliner.”
Full Story (Reuters)

NASA to Announce New Plan for Return of Wilmore and Williams

Ars Technica reports, “NASA should soon announce a new plan for the return of two of its astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, to Earth as early as March 19. This is about two weeks earlier than the existing public timeline for their flight home from the International Space Station. Bringing the two astronauts back to Earth next month will require some shuffling of spacecraft here on the ground and a delay of the privately operated Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station to later in the spring.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)

As US Air Operations Return to Normal, FAA Links Outage to Procedural Error

The AP reports that US air travel “returned mostly to normal Thursday,” a day after the Federal Aviation Administration’s Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system “broke down and grounded traffic from coast to coast.” According to the AP, Thursday afternoon saw only about 150 flight cancellations and approximately 3,700 delays – “much lower figures than on Wednesday, when more than 1,300 flights were scrubbed and 11,000 delayed.”
Full Story (Associated Press)

Weather Delays NASA Astronauts’ Return from ISS

CNN reports, “Four astronauts are scheduled to return home from the International Space Station (ISS) this week, capping off a nearly six-month mission in space, but rough weather at the crew’s splashdown site is forcing a delay.” NASA’s Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins, along with Italian Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency, were all supposed to leave the ISS aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule Thursday morning.
Full Story (CNN)

Crew-4 Astronauts Ready for ISS Departure

The Orlando (FL) Sentinel reports, “After nearly half a year in space, the four astronauts of Crew-4 are set to climb back into the SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom for its return trip to Florida.” NASA’s Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, and Jessica Watkins, along with the ESA’s Samantha Cristoforetti of Italy, launched from the Kennedy Space Center in April and have spent nearly 170 days onboard the station. Upon its departure, Crew Dragon Freedom will be making its first return to Earth.
Full Story (Orlando Sentinel)

Astra’s NASA Mission Fails With Loss of Satellites

Reuters reported that Astra Space’s mission to send “tiny storm-monitoring NASA satellites to orbit” failed after a second-stage booster engine shut down 10 minutes after liftoff. The rocket was carrying two satellites designed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory to “measure moisture and precipitation in tropical storm systems,” which were set to be the first batch of a six-satellite constellation managed by NASA. NASA Science Mission Directorate Associate Administrator Thomas Zurbuchen tweeted that the mission “offered a great opportunity for new science and launch capabilities.”
More Info (Reuters)
 
 
 

 

 Video

Astra rocket launches on mission to deliver NASA TROPICS satellites
(VideoFromSpace via YouTube)

Starliner Closes Hatch; Astronauts Prepare Test Vehicle for Return to Earth Wednesday

The Orlando (FL) Sentinel reports that The Boeing Company’s Starliner successfully docked with the ISS on Friday, and its hatch opened on Saturday. “Since then the crew has removed 500 pounds of cargo sent up, and then loaded it up again with 600 more pounds for the return to Earth. That includes three Nitrogen Oxygen Recharge System tanks, essential for supplying breathable air on station. They will be refurbished planetside for a future return to the station.”
Full Story (Orlando Sentinel – subscription publication);
More Info (SciTech Daily)

 

 
 
 

 Video

Boeing Starliner’s Hatch Closes in Preparation for Undocking from ISS
(Boeing via YouTube)

Four Astronauts Returning from ISS on SpaceX Crew Dragon Capsule

CNN reports, “Three NASA astronauts and a European astronaut are returning home from the International Space Station, capping off their six-month mission during which they worked alongside Russian cosmonauts and hosted the first all-private crew to visit the orbiting outpost.” CNN reports the astronauts “climbed aboard their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule after midnight and detached from the space station in the early hours of Thursday morning,” and will “spend all day Thursday free flying through orbit as their spacecraft maneuvers closer to the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere.” The capsule “will streak back into the atmosphere while traveling at more than 22 times the speed of sound” and then “deploy parachutes and float to a splashdown landing off the coast of Florida.”
Full Story (CNN)