The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has confirmed the successful splashdown of SpaceX Crew Dragon after safely undocking from the International Space Station (ISS).
TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Crew Dragon splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean off Florida’s eastern shore at 8:45am ET, completing an end-to-end flight test to the ISS and back as part of NASA commercial crew program.
.@SpaceX's recovery fast boats approached the #CrewDragon as it splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean. Up next, the team will hoist the spacecraft on the Go Searcher recovery ship. pic.twitter.com/anIUB6XQzr
— NASA Commercial Crew (@Commercial_Crew) March 8, 2019
.@SpaceX recovery teams have safed the Demo-1 #CrewDragon and have towed it to the Go Searcher for final loading. pic.twitter.com/Y88nAqOGMy
— NASA Commercial Crew (@Commercial_Crew) March 8, 2019
Crew Dragon is on SpaceX’s recovery vessel—completing the spacecraft’s first test mission! pic.twitter.com/6K0qgnHd4O
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 8, 2019
“Today’s successful splashdown of the @SpaceX Demo-1 #CrewDragon capsule after its mission to @Space_Station marked another milestone in a new era of human spaceflight. @Commercial_Crew is one step closer to launching American astronauts on American rockets from American soil,” tweeted NASA Administrator, Jim Bridenstine after the splashdown.
https://twitter.com/JimBridenstine/status/1104017054166933504?s=19
TNG reports the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft lifted off at 2:49 a.m. EST Saturday on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and docked the ISS on Sunday at 5:51am ET.
Crew Dragon safely undocked from the ISS at 2:32am ET on Friday in readiness for the re-entry and splashdown to Earth after spending days at the orbital laboratory in what is the final phase of the uncrewed Demo-1 flight test.
Splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean, speed of the spacecraft was slowed by an enhanced parachute system in which drogue parachutes deployed about four minutes before landing to unfurl four main chutes less than a minute later.
After Crew Dragon landed in the Atlantic Ocean, SpaceX’s recovery ship recovered it and returned it to Port Canaveral, Florida to conclude its mission.
SpaceX’s inaugural mission with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is an important end-to-end test of the new system’s capabilities.
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