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Dragon Deorbit Burn Complete; Next Up, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 Splashdown

NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick is seen inside the SpaceX Dragon capsule as NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 crew members return to Earth on Oct. 25, 2024. Dragon is scheduled to splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, at 3:29 a.m. EDT.
NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick is seen inside the SpaceX Dragon capsule as NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 crew members return to Earth on Oct. 25, 2024. Dragon is scheduled to splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, at 3:29 a.m. EDT. Photo credit: NASA+

After 236 days in space, NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, are less than an hour away from returning to Earth on the agency’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission.

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft completed its deorbit burn as expected ahead of splashdown targeted for approximately 3:29 a.m. EDT off the coast of Pensacola, Florida.

Upon splashdown, Crew-8 will have orbited the Earth 3,776 times and traveled approximately 100,132,895 statute miles. In their 232 days spent aboard the space station, they also saw the arrival and departure of eight visiting spacecraft.

Four minutes before splashdown, the drogue parachutes will deploy at about 18,000 feet in altitude while Dragon is moving approximately 350 miles per hour. Less than a minute later, the main parachutes will deploy at about 6,000 feet in altitude while the spacecraft is moving approximately 119 miles per hour.

NASA’s live coverage will continue on NASA+ and the agency’s website until the crew is recovered from the spacecraft.

From Wind Tunnel Tests to Software Reviews, NASA’s Commercial Crew Partners Continue to Advance

CCP-StopWorking in wind tunnels, software laboratories and work stations across America, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP) partners continue to make strides in advancing the designs of the American spacecraft and rockets that will carry humans safely and reliably into low-Earth orbit from U.S. soil by 2017.

Blue Origin, The Boeing Company, Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) and Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) are accomplishing milestones established through Space Act Agreements as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Development Round 2 and Commercial Crew Integrated Capability initiatives.

CCP’s engineering team is working closely with its partners as they develop the next generation of crewed spacecraft and work toward challenging evaluations and tests this year. Ultimately, NASA intends to certify and use American-made commercial systems to fly astronauts from U.S. soil to the International Space Station, and back, ending our sole reliance on Russia to get to space.

“What we have seen from our industry partners is a determination to make their components and systems work reliably, and in turn they’ve been able to demonstrate the complex machinery that makes spaceflight possible will also work as planned,” said Kathy Lueders, Commercial Crew Program manager. “These next few months will continue to raise the bar for achievement by our partners.”

Read details here.

Looking Live at Earth from the International Space Station

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One of the new experiments aboard the International Space Station can now be watched live by anyone on Earth with an Internet connection. The research is part of a project called High Definition Earth Viewing, or HDEV. Four commercially available cameras carried to the station on the SpaceX-3 cargo resupply mission have been installed on the outside of the station and viewers can watch the feeds as they automatically scan through various angles to show different views of Earth from the orbiting laboratory.

Although they are enclosed in special cases, the cameras are exposed to the vacuum and radiation of space so researchers on Earth can note whether the pictures degrade over time and how badly. You can watch the live stream online at here. You can read more about HDEV here.

HDEV was one of several new research projects recently carried to the one-of-a-kind science center orbiting about 260 miles over Earth. Numerous experiment aboard the station are conducted daily by astronauts while others are run automatically. You can read more details about station research here.

 

Lueders Talks CCP on Space Station Live Friday

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CCP’s new manager, Kathy Lueders, will appear on NASA TV Friday at 11 a.m. on Space Station Live to discuss the Commercial Crew Program and its role in NASA’s stepping stone path to human exploration of space. Lueders played a large part in developing the successful cargo delivery framework that is using privately owned rockets and spacecraft to carry equipment, experiments and supplies to the International Space Station. You can tune in to NASA TV at 11 to see the interview or watch the stream at nasa.gov/ntv.

 

What Would You Take Into Space?

Astronauts take personal mementos with them into space to help mark the occasion. The tradition started in 1961 when Gus Grissom stashed a roll of dimes in his Mercury flight suit. Since then, personal and historic items – all very small and lightweight – have made trips into space, some going as far as landing on the moon with the Apollo astronauts. What would you take with you into space? What would you take for a friend?

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Above, a lightsaber replica from Star Wars was carried on STS-120. Right, the beta cloth kit Michael Collins took with him on Apollo 11. Courtesy National Air & Space Museum. 

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An Unusual First Stage Photo

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CCP’s industry partners continue to make great strides as they design the next-generation of human spacecraft. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk released this photo yesterday of the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket that will launch the SpaceX-3 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. The unusual feature is the landing legs on the side of the rocket. According to Musk, they are 60 feet in diameter. He said the booster will still land in the ocean, but will attempt what’s known as a soft landing instead of simply plummeting as such stages have done until now. The exception is the space shuttle’s solid rocket boosters which parachuted into the water and were recovered for reuse. Musk has said before that his goal is to bring the spent first stage back to a soft landing on a runway or similar facility so the booster and its 9 engines can be used again. Musk ended his posts saying the company needs to prove precision control of the stage throughout the deceleration from hypersonic to subsonic speeds. There is no word whether this innovation is anticipated for crew-carrying missions as it is clearly early in the test phases of development.