[ad_1]
Astronauts on SpaceX’s first operational astronaut mission for NASA will have to wait a few more days to return home from the International Space Station due to bad weather at their projection site.
NASA’s four Crew-1 astronauts were scheduled to return to Earth on Wednesday April 28 aboard their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, taking a dip in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida. But strong winds forced NASA and SpaceX to delay the landing until Saturday (May 1). Splashdown is scheduled for 11:36 a.m. EDT (3:36 p.m. GMT).
NASA and SpaceX have agreed to relocate the undocking and landing of Crew-1 from Wednesday, April 28, following a review of forecast weather conditions in the splash zones off the coast of Florida, which are currently predicting wind speeds above recovery criteria, ”NASA officials said. in a report. “Teams will continue to monitor weather conditions for the splashes ahead of the scheduled undocking on Friday.”
In photos: SpaceX Crew-1 Mission to the International Space Station
SpaceX’s Crew-1 mission for NASA was launched on November 15 to mark the first operational crew flight on a commercial Crew Dragon spacecraft. He arrived at the station a day later to transport NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Mike Hopkins, Shannon Walker and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi to the orbiting laboratory.
Last week, SpaceX launched its second crew change flight for NASA, called Crew-2, to bring four more astronauts to the station. These astronauts arrived on Saturday (April 24) as a rescue team from the Crew-1 spacecraft.
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Resilience is expected to splash at one of seven locations off the Atlantic coast of Florida or in the Gulf of Mexico, the exact location depending on the weather, when it brings the Crew-1 astronauts back to Earth. .
With the delayed start to Saturday, Resilience will now detach from the space station on Friday (April 30) at 5:55 p.m. EDT (9:55 p.m. GMT). Live NASA undocking coverage will begin Friday at 3:30 p.m. EDT (7:30 p.m. GMT) and will continue with a splashdown and post-landing press conference.
Email Tariq Malik at [email protected] or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us on @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Instagram.
[ad_2]
Source link