NASA TV
After an orbital pursuit that lasted 27 hours, SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule successfully docked to the International Space Station (ISS) at 5:51 AM, EST (2:51 AM, PST) today. And at 8:07 AM, EST (5:07 AM, PST), Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko were the first ISS crew members to venture into the capsule to take air samples before it was safe to remove their oxygen masks and begin unloading 450 pounds (204 kilograms) of supplies from the SpaceX vehicle. During this activity, NASA astronaut Anne McClain entered Crew Dragon to hold a welcoming ceremony while sitting next to the capsule's two inanimate passengers: a sensor-laden mannequin dubbed Ripley (in honor of Sigourney Weaver's heroic character from the Alien film franchise) and a plush Earth toy that was used as a low-tech zero-g simulator after launch.
NASA TV
Crew Dragon will stay at the ISS till March 8...when it departs from the orbital outpost at 2:31 AM, EST (11:31 PM, PST on March 7), conduct a deorbit burn at 7:50 AM, EST (4:50 AM, PST) and then splashing down into the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Florida, at 8:45 AM, EST (5:45 AM, PST) that same morning. Assuming that everything goes as planned during this mission, and NASA and SpaceX like the data that they obtained from this flight, the next time Crew Dragon soars to the ISS will hopefully be this July—on Demo-2. Two NASA astronauts, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, will be on that historic mission. After an 8-year hiatus that began with the finale of space shuttle flight STS-135 in July of 2011, astronauts will soon be lifting off from U.S. soil once more.
NASA TV
NASA TV
NASA TV
NASA TV
No comments:
Post a Comment