The joint SpaceX-NASA historic mission that brought human space flight back to the US ground After nearly a decade will return from Earth orbit on August 1, 2020, according to NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine’s announcement Friday evening. The capsule drop is scheduled for August 2.
The return of the mission will mark a long-term stay in space of just over two months for American astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley. After launching aboard a Falcon 9 rocket on May 30, the crew arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) several hours later and docked their Dragon Endeavor capsule into orbiting habitat.
The mission will be a great success for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP), which provided funding and guided developments related to the Dragon capsule. Additionally, NASA is expected to certify that the spacecraft regularly transports humans to and from the ISS.
NEWS: We are targeting an August 1 departure of @ SpaceX’s Dragon Endeavor from @Space_Station to bring @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug home after their historic mission #LaunchAmerica. Splashdown is scheduled for August 2. The weather will determine the actual date. Stay tuned. pic.twitter.com/VOCV51gzLi
– Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) July 17, 2020
Earlier this year a test for the Dragon’s Fall was conducted with SpaceX’s DM-1 mission (the manned version was called DM-2), and the company’s hardware worked flawlessly, even receiving praise from the NASA CCP Assistant Manager Steve Stich. “[It] he did better than expected, “he confirmed.
Benji Reed, SpaceX Crew Mission Management Director, was equally pleased with the performance of the Dragon capsule during the return of DM-1. “I can’t believe how well the entire mission has gone,” he said after completing the mission. Unfortunately, the original DM-1 capsule was lost in an explosion during a static fire test; however, the source of the failure has since been corrected.
Spectators of the upcoming fall can expect a course of events similar to Dragon Endeavor’s return: re-entry of the capsule into Earth’s atmosphere, drogue parachute deployment, main parachute deployment, and splash. In particular, SpaceX’s specialized Mark 3 parachute system will be on display for the first time on an untested stage, designed to be the safest and most reliable parachute system ever created. The astronaut return event will likely be broadcast live on NASA and SpaceX websites in the usual form of mission milestones.
While SpaceX’s first manned mission has yet to be fully completed, plans are already in the works for a second manned launch. Known as Crew-1, this flight will have three NASA astronauts and a Japanese astronaut who will travel to the ISS again via the Crew Dragon capsule. Administrator Bridenstine has previously suggested that the mission could start on August 30, 2020.
Behnken and Hurley’s work on DM-1 is intended to test the SpaceX capsule to ensure Crew-1 readiness and future missions to perform scientific and ISS repair work in orbit. So far, Dragon’s systems appear to be working nominally, aside from a few minor issues, with astronauts even assisting with spacewalks in the meantime.
As long as the weather cooperates, the astronauts will return to work “at home” in a couple of weeks.
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