NASA, SpaceX Crew-9 Returns on Crew Dragon Freedom After 171 Days in Space

NASA and SpaceX put together for the return of Crew-9 astronauts aboard the Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft. The scheduled splashdown happened on March 18, at roughly 5:57 p.m. EDT within the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Florida. The return mission contains 4 crew members, two of whom initially arrived on the International Space Station (ISS) aboard Boeing’s Starliner. The return was initially deliberate for March 19 however was rescheduled as a result of climate considerations. The dwell protection of the occasion will start at 4:45 p.m. EDT (2045 GMT).

Crew-9’s Journey and Returning Astronauts

As per reports, in accordance with NASA, the Crew Dragon Freedom undocked from the ISS’s Harmony module at round 1:05 a.m. EDT. The descent in the direction of Earth is deliberate to be initiated by a deorbit burn scheduled for five:11 p.m. EDT. The Crew-9 mission, which launched on September 28, 2024, included NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov. They shall be joined on the return flight by Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore, who reached the ISS aboard Boeing’s Starliner on June 5, 2024. Due to technical difficulties encountered throughout Starliner’s journey, the choice was made to return the astronauts aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon as a substitute.

Duration of the Mission and Final Landing Site

Crew Dragon Freedom can have spent 171 days in area by the point it lands. Hague and Gorbunov can have traveled roughly 72.5 million statute miles, finishing 2,736 orbits round Earth. Williams and Wilmore can have spent 286 days in orbit, protecting over 121 million statute miles. SpaceX and NASA have designated the Gulf of Mexico because the touchdown website. Future crew landings below NASA’s industrial crew program are anticipated to happen within the Pacific Ocean.