By SpaceX Crew-2 Safely Returns to Earth After 6-Month Mission in ISS
Four astronauts aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour safely made their way back to Earth today after their six-month stay in the International Space Station (ISS).
NASA confirmed on November 8 at 10:33 pm EST (03:33 UTC) that the crew has splashed down off the coast of Pensacola, Florida after undocking from the ISS.
SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour on a parachute splashing down off the coast of Florida. Source: NASA Live Coverage
Splashdown confirmed at 10:33pm ET! The @SpaceX #CrewDragon Endeavour and Crew-2 astronauts have safely returned to Earth after 199 days in space. https://t.co/cBNqC5JGaz pic.twitter.com/kMUQZCgTMG
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) November 9, 2021
Crew-2 astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur of NASA, Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency, and Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency are part of Expeditions 65 and 66. The crew started the journey on April 23, 2021, aboard the Falcon 9, and reached the ISS through the Dragon spacecraft in a 24-hour flight, after separation from the SpaceX rocket. Throughout their 6-month stay at the ISS, the astronauts were able to perform more than 300 experiments and 4 spacewalks.
The astronauts are now in a recovery vessel and are getting checked out by NASA medical team to make sure they are in a healthy state. With the successful return of the SpaceX Crew-2, another group of astronauts is set to visit the ISS. The SpaceX Crew-3 is set to launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida no later than November 10 at 9:30 PM Eastern Time.
NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, Kayla Barron, and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer will fly aboard the Dragon spacecraft for the Crew-3 mission in what will be the fifth human spaceflight mission by SpaceX since last year May.
SOURCE: SpaceX, NASA
