Endeavor Touches Down Off Florida Coast

NASA's Crew-2 astronauts splashed down safely in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Florida after completing the agency's second long-duration commercial crew mission to the ISS. The international crew spent a record 199 days in orbit, beating their Crew-1 predecessor's previous NASA record of 168 days. 

The international crew consisted of Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur of NASA, Akihiko Hoshide of JAXA, and Thomas Pesquet of the ESA. The team returned aboard their Crew Dragon spacecraft, the Endeavour, in a parachute-assisted touchdown. The craft was quickly recovered by SpaceX recovery vessels, to return the astronauts to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. 

The trip is another gold star for the Commercial Crew Program, integrating NASA command and control with private industry to complete manned space flights. The team launched on April 23 on a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center, traveled aboard their Crew Dragon, Endeavor, and docked with the Harmony Module's forward port on the ISS 24 hours later. The crew completed maintenance activities, demonstrations, and public engagement events while aboard the station.

Some studies undertaken were microgravatic effects on gaseous flames, plant growth of green hatch chiles in the Plant Habitat Facility, the introduction of free-flying robotic assistants, and virtual reality training. Kimbrough, Hoshide, and Pesquet were able to complete four spacewalks to deploy and prepare upcoming ISS Roll-out Solar Arrays, adding to their EVA experience.

The Crew Dragon performed well, marking the second mission completion for the system, just before the launch of NASA's SpaceX Crew-3 mission. The Endeavour will return to SpaceX's facility in Florida, the Dragon Lair, where teams will complete after-mission evaluation, maintenance, and preparation for future missions. Once Crew-3 is launched, the Crew-4 mission, their likely rotation, is targeted for an April launch in 2022. 

FMI: www.nasa.gov