After spending 9 months at the International Space Station (ISS), NASA astronauts Buch Wilmore and Sunita Williams have started the journey of return to Earth by riding in the SpaceX Dragon capsule. This homecoming mission, which started on Tuesday morning, is expected to end with Splashdown on the Florida coast by Indian time on Wednesday, if the weather conditions are favorable.
Secure landing is necessary
NASA’s decision to bring back astronauts using SpaceX’s dragon capsules is the end of this long space mission which was going to last only a few days. The two astronauts reached ISS in June 2024 riding in the Starlineer capsule of Boeing, but a series of technical fault made the spacecraft unfavorable to their return. As a result, he was included in NASA’s long -term space mission before bringing him back to SpaceX Dragon.
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Reverse from Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft, which can bring astronauts back to Earth in just 3.5 hours, it takes about 17 hours for SpaceX Dragon Capsules to complete their return journey. There are many factors behind the increase in deadline that depend on the safety of the crew and the accuracy of the landing. ISS revolves around the Earth at a speed of 28,000 km/h (17,500 mph) at an altitude of about 420 km. The return journey requires an accurate element with the landing zone, which means that the dragon capsules cannot start descending immediately after blinding.
Parachutes reduce speed
The spacecraft will have to burn a controlled deorbit to return safely. Also, your way will have to be decided comfortably towards the splashedown site. During landing, the capsule becomes extremely hot due to atmospheric friction, which makes it necessary to get down the spacecraft and the crew slowly. Parachutes are deployed only to slow down the landing speed of the spacecraft at the height, ensuring safe landing. SpaceX selects the landing site depending on the weather conditions, sea streams and recovery vessels status. If the conditions on the primary landing site are unfavorable, the capsules can last longer in the orbit before starting to land.
Soyuz lands on the ground
Soyuz returns to the earth at a straight and fast pace in which it is soon entered in the Earth’s atmosphere after separating from ISS. Dragon makes a slow and controlled return. This includes many circumambulation of the Earth to select the most favorable time and location for entry into the atmosphere. Apart from this, Soyuz always lands on the ground while the crew dragon splashadown in the sea. To ensure that the weather and sea condition are correct, extra time is taken in return.
NASA’s return began with Mission Wilmore and Williams riding in the dragon capsules. First of all, the hatch was sealed and preparations before the departure started. Talking about the main events in the return mission, the astronaut first boarded the crew dragon capsule and secured the hatch. Then he wearing his flight suit and examined the system several times. After this the spacecraft was ignored by ISS. Now the dragon capsule is expected to land on the coast of Florida.
NASA is doing live-streaming of significant moments of the mission, including the process of ignores sequences, deorbit burn and splashadown. Once the capsule is safely landed, the recovery teams will bring back the astronauts and take them to Johnson Space Center in Houston for post -evaluation after the mission.
Importance and future of mission
The return of Wilmore and Williams shows the conclusion of an extended mission that was initially designed as a short -term testing flight for Boeing’s Starlineer Capsules. However, after a malfunction in Starlineer, NASA considered it very risky to return the crew, making an alternative arrangement with SpaceX.
The successful closing of this mission will prove the versatility of the crew dragon spacecraft, which has become an important part of the NASA’s commercial crew program. Additionally, it also highlights the challenges faced by the Boeing’s Starlineer program, which has repeatedly delayed and technical flaws.