Splash down! NASA’s SpaceX Crew 7 returns to Earth after 199 days in orbit

Part of the Crew-7 mission NASAThe civilian crew program successfully returned after 199 days in space, achieving important results for the international crew and contributing to a variety of scientific experiments.

NASA’s space x Crew-7 completed agency work 7th Commercial Crew Rotation Mission international space station The Dragon spacecraft safely touched down Tuesday off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. The four-member international crew spent 199 days in orbit.

NASA astronaut Jasmine Moghbeli, ESA (european space agency) Astronaut Andreas Mogensen, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) with astronaut Satoshi Furukawa Roscosmos Cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov returns to Earth by splashdown at 5:47 a.m. EDT. A team aboard the SpaceX recovery ship recovered the spacecraft and its crew. After returning to shore, the crew will fly to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

“After more than six months on the International Space Station, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 has returned safely,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. “This international crew has shown us that space connects us all. It’s clear that we can do more and learn more if we work together.” The scientific experiments conducted during the space trip will help NASA prepare for its daring mission to the moon. Mars, and beyond, all for the benefit of humanity here on Earth. ”

Mission results and experiments

The Crew-7 mission launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 3:27 a.m. on August 26, 2023. About 30 hours later, Dragon docked in the space-facing port of the Harmony module. Crew 7 undocked at 11:20 a.m. on Monday, March 11 and began the return journey.

Moghberg, Mogensen, Furukawa, and Borisov traveled 84,434,094 miles during their mission, spent 197 days on the space station, and completed 3,184 orbits around Earth. The Crew-7 mission was Moghbeli and Borisov’s first spaceflight. Mogensen spent 209 days in space on two flights, and Furukawa spent 366 days on two flights.

Throughout the mission, Crew-7 members contributed to numerous scientific and maintenance activities and technology demonstrations. Moghbeli, joined by NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara, performed one spacewalk to replace one of the 12 trundle bearing assemblies in the Port Solar Alpha rotary joint. . This will allow the array to track the sun and generate electricity to power the station.

Crew members contributed hundreds experiment and technologyDemonstrations included the first studies of human responses to different periods of spaceflight and experiments with growing food on the space station.

Future outlook and program implications

This was the third flight of the Dragon spacecraft, named Endurance. Previously, it also supported Crew-3 and Crew-5 missions. The spacecraft will return to Florida for inspection and processing at SpaceX’s refurbishment facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. There, the team will inspect the Dragon, analyze performance data, and process it for its next flight.

Crew-7’s flight is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, and its return to Earth follows the launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8, which docked at the station on March 5 and begins a new scientific expedition. Ta.

The goal of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation between the International Space Station and low Earth orbit. This has already provided additional research time and increased opportunities for discovery in microgravity testbeds for human exploration, including helping NASA prepare for human exploration of the Moon and Mars.