A third long-range team of astronauts launched by SpaceX to the International Space Station (ISS) has returned safely to Earth, spraying in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida to end months of orbital research ranging from space-grown hot peppers to robots.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, carrying three US NASA astronauts and a teammate of the European Space Agency (ESA) crew from Germany, parachuted into a calm sea in the dark at the end of a 23-hour autonomous flight home from the ISS.
The descent, around 12:45 a.m. local time (4:45 a.m. GMT) on Friday, was streamed live via a joint NASA-SpaceX webcast.
The Endurance crew, which launched into orbit on November 11, consisted of American space veteran Tom Marshburn, 61, and three first-time astronauts, NASA’s Raja Chari, 44, and Kayla Barron, 34, and their colleague. ESA Matthias Maurer, 52.
Camera photos from inside the crew compartment show astronauts strapped into their seats wearing white and black helmet suits.
Departure response teams were expected to take about an hour to reach the capsule, swaying in the water, lift it to the deck of a lifeboat, and open the hatch to let the astronauts out for their first breath of fresh air. six months .
The return from orbit followed a fiery re-entry through the Earth’s atmosphere, generating heat from friction that sent temperatures outside the capsule to rise to 1930C (3500F).
Two sets of parachutes opened over the capsule in the final descent, slowing its fall to about 24 km / h (15 miles per hour) before the ship hit the water off the coast of Tampa, Florida.
“This is the end of a six-month mission, but I think the space dream is alive,” Maurer said.
“Welcome home,” SpaceX Mission Control said on the descent. “Thank you for flying with SpaceX.”
“It was a great ride,” said Chari, the capsule commander. As for the reintroduction of gravity, he noted: “Just one complaint. These water bottles are super heavy. ”
Applause from the SpaceX air traffic control center in the suburbs of Los Angeles was heard during a webcast that showed infrared images of the capsule on its last descent.
The newly returned astronauts have been officially identified as NASA’s Commercial Crew 3, the third full-fledged, long-lasting team of four that SpaceX has flown to the space station under a contract with the US space agency.
Microgravity cotton and burning
SpaceX, founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, a billionaire and CEO of electric car maker Tesla Inc, which recently struck a deal to buy Twitter, is supplying Falcon 9 rockets and Crew Dragon capsules, which NASA astronauts are now flying into orbit. from US soil.
The company also oversees these flights and handles recovery while NASA provides crews and launch equipment at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and manages U.S. space station operations.
California-based SpaceX has launched seven human spaceflights in the past two years – five for NASA and two for private companies – as well as dozens of cargo and satellite payload missions since 2012.
Crew 3 returned to Earth with about 250 kg (550 pounds) of cargo, including cargo from ISS research samples.
In addition to routine maintenance while in orbit about 400 km (250 miles) above Earth, astronauts have contributed to hundreds of scientific experiments and technology demonstrations.
Highlights include studies of genetic expression in space-cultured cotton cells, microgravity gas flame burning, and the DNA sequences of bacteria at the station. The crew also tested new robotic devices, collected hot peppers grown in orbit, and conducted experiments in space physics and materials science.
Barron and Charry took a spacewalk to prepare the station for another in a series of new lightweight solar grilles to be used at the planned Gateway outpost that will orbit the moon.
The return of Crew 3 comes about a week after they met their replacement team, Crew 4, aboard the space station. One of the three Russian astronauts who also now inhabit the station, Oleg Artemiev, took command of the ISS from Marshburn during a handover before the Endurance crew left early Thursday.
The SpaceX Dragon space capsule is being sprayed in the Gulf of Mexico [NASA via AP]
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