By The Opinion
23 Oct 2024, 11:24 PM EDT
After spending seven months in that orbital laboratory, The four crew members of the eighth commercial space mission of NASA and SpaceX Dragon left this Wednesday for Earth from the International Space Station (ISS).
The spacecraft separated from the ISS just after 5:05 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday and It is scheduled to land next Friday in one of the multiple areas available off the coast of Florida.
According to the space agency itself, NASA astronauts Matt Dominick, Mike Barratt and Jeanette Epps, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, undock from the front port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
After two weeks of delays due to adverse weather conditions, the Dragon capsule lifted off from the ISS, while both spacecraft flew 260 miles over the Pacific Ocean.
These commercial flights began in 2020 and have allowed the United States to send astronauts from American soil again after the cancellation of the space shuttle program in 2011.
Since the last flight of the shuttle Atlantis into Earth orbit in 2011, NASA had been forced to use only Russian launch systems such as the Soyuz to launch its astronauts into orbit.
The mission was originally supposed to last about six months, but The additional time in space caused Crew-8’s Crew Dragon Endeavor to set a new record for time spent in orbit, 232 days.
For the return, there is already great expectation about the arrival of SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, used mainly with parachutes to land on Earth, now has an alternative landing method in case of emergency.
This propulsive landing system, which had been ruled out for safety reasons, is designed to spring into action if the parachutes fail, offering a safe and effective alternative.
When SpaceX began development of Dragon, The initial idea was that the landing would be carried out using the SuperDraco.
These engines would slow the capsule during its descent, extending its landing legs just before touching down. However, NASA opted for parachutes, considering it to be a safer and more reliable option.
One of the main concerns was the possibility that the retractable leg compartments created vulnerable points that could become dangerously hot during reentry.
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