Crew-2 Safely Returns from ISS – without a working toilet – Universe Today
[ad_1]
Four astronauts splashed down safely in the Gulf of Mexico aboard their SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour capsule, despite one of the parachutes not deploying immediately. Their spectacular return in darkness from the International Space Station capped off the record-setting mission for the SpaceX Crew-2, with the longest spaceflight by a U.S. crewed spacecraft. Their 199 days in orbit surpassed the 168 days set by NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission earlier this year.
The crew had to overcome a few challenges during their mission, the last of which was one of the four parachutes becoming tangled and not inflating immediately. Eventually it fully unfurled, and NASA said later a press briefing that the “deceleration of the spacecraft all looked nominal.” Another challenge was a non-functioning toilet on the Dragon capsule for their eight-and-a-half-hour trip home. The crew was forced to rely on the same “undergarments” — essentially adult diapers — that are used during spacewalks.
Splashdown took place at about 10:33 pm EST on November 8, 2021, off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. Because of the return in darkness, the capsule’s descent through the atmosphere was seen along the flight path, such as this image below taken from Louisiana. The crew’s journey home began Monday just after 2 pm ET when the astronauts strapped into the Crew Dragon capsule, the one they arrived in at the ISS in April.
SpaceX has now completed its fourth human spaceflight, and third mission for NASA in just 18 months. The fifth crewed launch for SpaceX – Crew 3 to the ISS — is currently scheduled to launch on November 10 at 9:03PM ET, NASA said.
The Crew 2 astronauts included NASA’s Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet. During their mission the Crew-2 astronauts contributed to a host of science and maintenance activities, scientific investigations, and technology demonstrations. In addition, they conducted four spacewalks to install and deploy new solar arrays, and prepare for future installation of the ISS Roll-out Solar Arrays. The fourth spacewalk, conducted by Hoshide and Pesquet on September 12, was the first in the history of the space station that did not include an American or Russian.
After splashdown, recovery teams brought the crew onboard a ship in less than an hour. At a briefing after the recovery NASA’s chief of human spaceflight operations discussed the parachute deploy issue.
“The team will be going off and looking at how the loading was on the chute and understanding that behavior,” Lueders said. “It is behavior we’ve seen multiple times in other tests, and it usually happens when the lines kind of bunch up together until the aero forces kind of open up and spread the chutes. The thing that makes me feel a little bit more confident is that the loading and the deceleration of the spacecraft all looked nominal.”
The non-working toilet issue was known since September when an alarm sounded on board another Crew Dragon spacecraft during the four-day orbital flight of the Inspiration4 mission, indicating a leak in the toilet system. An inspection of the Endeavour capsule’s toilet showed the same problem, indicating a design flaw.
During a press conference from the ISS last week, McArthur said using undergarments rather than the toilet is “suboptimal.”
“But we are prepared to manage,” she said. “Spaceflight is full of lots of little challenges. This is just one more that we’ll encounter and take care of in our mission, so we’re not too worried about it.” Following Crew-3’s launch, the next NASA and SpaceX crew rotation mission is Crew-4, currently targeted for launch in April 2022.
Lead image caption:
ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, left, NASA astronauts Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Aki Hoshide, right, are seen inside the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship shortly after having landed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission is the second operational mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Credits: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
[ad_2]
Original Post
I?¦ve been exploring for a little bit for any high quality articles or blog posts on this sort of house . Exploring in Yahoo I at last stumbled upon this web site. Studying this information So i?¦m satisfied to express that I have an incredibly just right uncanny feeling I found out just what I needed. I so much unquestionably will make sure to do not disregard this site and give it a look regularly.
What i don’t understood is actually how you’re not actually much more well-liked than you may be now. You’re very intelligent. You realize therefore considerably relating to this subject, produced me personally consider it from numerous varied angles. Its like men and women aren’t fascinated unless it is one thing to accomplish with Lady gaga! Your own stuffs nice. Always maintain it up!
You have mentioned very interesting points! ps decent internet site.
Thanks for your personal marvelous posting! I actually enjoyed reading it, you could be a great author.I will make sure to bookmark your blog and may come back in the future. I want to encourage you to ultimately continue your great job, have a nice morning!
Very interesting information!Perfect just what I was looking for!
I’m curious to find out what blog system you are working with? I’m having some minor security problems with my latest website and I would like to find something more safe. Do you have any suggestions?
Hi there! This post couldn’t be written any better! Reading through this post reminds me of my previous room mate! He always kept talking about this. I will forward this article to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thank you for sharing!
Its excellent as your other blog posts : D, thankyou for posting.
Very nice post. I simply stumbled upon your weblog and wished to mention that I have truly loved surfing around your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing for your feed and I’m hoping you write again very soon!
Good info and straight to the point. I don’t know if this is in fact the best place to ask but do you guys have any thoughts on where to get some professional writers? Thx 🙂
I’ve recently started a web site, the information you provide on this website has helped me tremendously. Thank you for all of your time & work.
This is a very good tips especially to those new to blogosphere, brief and accurate information… Thanks for sharing this one. A must read article.
You have brought up a very superb details , thankyou for the post.
Great wordpress blog here.. It’s hard to find quality writing like yours these days. I really appreciate people like you! take care
As I website possessor I believe the content matter here is rattling wonderful , appreciate it for your efforts. You should keep it up forever! Best of luck.
What i don’t understood is in reality how you’re not really much more neatly-appreciated than you might be now. You are so intelligent. You realize therefore significantly in the case of this topic, made me in my view imagine it from so many numerous angles. Its like men and women don’t seem to be involved until it?¦s one thing to accomplish with Girl gaga! Your own stuffs great. All the time care for it up!
Hello my family member! I wish to say that this post is awesome, nice written and include almost all vital infos. I¦d like to look extra posts like this .
I¦ve been exploring for a little bit for any high-quality articles or weblog posts in this sort of space . Exploring in Yahoo I finally stumbled upon this website. Studying this information So i¦m satisfied to convey that I have an incredibly good uncanny feeling I discovered just what I needed. I so much certainly will make certain to don¦t overlook this website and provides it a glance on a relentless basis.
You have noted very interesting details! ps decent website.
Thanks for this wondrous post, I am glad I detected this web site on yahoo.
Everything is very open and very clear explanation of issues. was truly information. Your website is very useful. Thanks for sharing.
Sweet site, super style and design, rattling clean and utilize genial.
Have you ever considered about adding a little bit more than just your articles? I mean, what you say is important and all. But think about if you added some great photos or videos to give your posts more, “pop”! Your content is excellent but with pics and clips, this site could undeniably be one of the best in its niche. Superb blog!
You really make it seem really easy with your presentation however I to find this matter to be actually something which I feel I might by no means understand. It kind of feels too complex and very broad for me. I am looking ahead in your subsequent put up, I?¦ll try to get the cling of it!
I am not rattling great with English but I get hold this real easy to translate.
What i do not understood is in reality how you are now not really a lot more well-favored than you might be right now. You’re so intelligent. You recognize thus significantly in the case of this subject, made me in my opinion imagine it from so many varied angles. Its like men and women don’t seem to be interested until it is one thing to accomplish with Girl gaga! Your individual stuffs excellent. Always care for it up!
There’s noticeably a bundle to learn about this. I assume you made sure nice points in features also.
Hi , I do believe this is an excellent blog. I stumbled upon it on Yahoo , i will come back once again. Money and freedom is the best way to change, may you be rich and help other people.
There is noticeably a bundle to know about this. I assume you made certain nice points in features also.
Respect to website author, some great entropy.
That is really interesting, You are an overly skilled blogger. I have joined your rss feed and stay up for looking for more of your great post. Additionally, I have shared your site in my social networks!
I enjoy what you guys are usually up too. This type of clever work and reporting! Keep up the wonderful works guys I’ve you guys to blogroll.
This is a very good tips especially to those new to blogosphere, brief and accurate information… Thanks for sharing this one. A must read article.
Howdy! Someone in my Myspace group shared this website with us so I came to check it out. I’m definitely loving the information. I’m bookmarking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Great blog and excellent design and style.