Jacksonville, Florida – In a mighty splashdown, the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour successfully brought home four astronauts hailing from different space agencies who had spent 186 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS), NPR reported on 4th September 2023.
The crew’s safe return marks the end of NASA’s Crew-6 mission, a collaboration between NASA and SpaceX.
NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg, United Arab Emirates (UAE) astronaut Sultan Al-Neyadi, and the Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, aboard the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour, descended gracefully into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, on 4th September 2023, at 12:17 a.m. EDT. The capsule’s descent was witnessed by many residents, creating a memorable spectacle in the night sky.
The historic mission, led by SpaceX and Elon Musk, embarked on its journey last March with a fiery nighttime launch from Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre. Over the course of their mission, the Crew-6 astronauts traveled an astounding 79 million miles and completed over 3,000 Earth orbits. The spacecraft re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere at a blistering speed of 17,000 mph, enduring temperatures exceeding 3,500oF before slowing down to a speed of 15 mph for its splashdown.
During their mission, the Crew-6 team achieved several milestones. Stephen Bowen conducted three spacewalks, assisted by Woody Hoburg for two of them, and Sultan Al-Neyadi for one. They also successfully installed two new roll-out solar arrays on the International Space Station, enhancing the power generation on it.
The team made history this Labor Day weekend as it completed the longest ever Arab space mission. SpaceX Mission Control radioed their sentiments, stating, “You’ve got a roomful of happy people here.”
The crew’s return, originally scheduled for Saturday, was successful few days after Hurricane Idalia landed on Florida’s Gulf coast.
As the Dragon Endeavour’s fourth successful mission to space and back, this accomplishment underscores the continued success of SpaceX’s partnership with NASA. Another crew rotation mission is set to occur later this month from Kazakhstan along with two Russians, emphasizing the increasing International collaboration in space exploration.
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