SpaceX capsule carrying 4 astronauts departs space station after record-breaking mission

A SpaceX capsule carrying four astronauts departed the International Space Station (ISS) late Saturday, aiming for a rare nighttime splashdown to end the company’s second crew flight. <>According to NASA, the Dragon Endeavour capsule left the space station at 8:35 pm EST on May 1 and splashdown is expected at 2:57 am EST on May 2. The returning team consists of Astronauts Mike Hopkins, Shannon Walker, Victor Glover and Sochi Noguchi, all part of SpaceX’s first crewed mission launched last November.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft with astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker of NASA, and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) inside undocked from the space-facing port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module at 8:35 p.m. EDT to complete a six-month science mission.

Sunday’s landing will also mark the first nighttime capsule splashdown since 1968 Apollo 8’s mission which saw the return of astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders. In a statement, <>NASA said that the spacecraft “is in great health on the space station, and teams now forecast ideal conditions for both splashdown and recovery during the weekend.” Speaking to Washington Post, a representative for the Space Agency confirmed that the wind is expected to be about 4 knots with wave heights below one foot at the scheduled arrival time. NASA is targeting the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Panama City, Florida for the splashdown.

Where can you watch the Splashdown?

Crew-1 Mission

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission launched Nov. 15, 2020, on a Falcon 9 rocket from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The astronauts named the spacecraft Resilience, in honour of their families, colleagues, and fellow citizens and highlighting the dedication displayed by the teams involved with the mission and demonstrating that there is no limit to what humans can achieve when they work together. Crew Dragon Resilience docked to the Harmony module’s forward port of the space station Nov. 16, nearly 27 hours after liftoff.

Image Credits: AP