City
Epaper

NASA, SpaceX target Gulf of Mexico for splashdown site

By IANS | Updated: August 2, 2020 08:10 IST

Washington, Aug 2 NASA and SpaceX are targeting Pensacola in Florida as the primary return location for Crew ...

Open in App

Washington, Aug 2 NASA and SpaceX are targeting Pensacola in Florida as the primary return location for Crew Dragon with two American astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS), said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.

"We are targeting undocking at 7.34 p.m. EDT today," he tweeted on Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Following a scheduled assessment of weather conditions for splashdown, teams from NASA and SpaceX are proceeding with preparations to bring NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley home to Earth aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon "Endeavour" spacecraft.

Conditions are "Go" at the primary targeted site, off the coast Pensacola, and alternate site off the coast of Panama City in the Gulf of Mexico for splashdown and recovery scheduled at 2.41 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, Aug. 2, according to NASA.

Teams will continue to closely monitor Hurricane Isaias and evaluate impacts to the potential splashdown sites, said NASA.

SpaceX will monitor changes to conditions until 2.5 hours prior to the scheduled undocking, when a determination to proceed with departure will be made.

If conditions are marginal and exceed the accepted criteria, a joint recommendation by SpaceX and NASA will be made whether to proceed with undocking.

The splashdown will wrap up NASA's SpaceX Demo-2 test flight after more than two months at the ISS.

It will be the first return of a commercially built and operated American spacecraft carrying astronauts from the space station, said NASA.

Hurley and Behnken arrived at the ISS in the Crew Dragon on May 31 following a launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 30.

This is SpaceX's final test flight and is providing data on the performance of the Falcon 9 rocket, Crew Dragon spacecraft and ground systems, as well as in-orbit, docking, splashdown, and recovery operations, according to NASA.

( With inputs from IANS )

Tags: Robert L. BehnkenNasaJim BridenstineSpacexPanama CityPensacolaNational programmeBorish johnsonSpacex falconSpace agency
Open in App

Related Stories

InternationalNASA Layoffs: 20% or 3,870 Employees to Exit US Space Agency

Space Surprise: Planet Made of Diamonds Found, Five Times Earth’s Size

InternationalNASA Job Cut: Over 2,000 Senior Officials to Exit Due to Trump-Era Budget Cuts

InternationalDOGE Must Audit Elon Musk's Firms, Says Donald Trump in Explosive Post

NationalPM Narendra Modi Interacts With Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, First Indian Aboard the International Space Station

Technology Realted Stories

TechnologyDPIIT ieam visits Bengaluru to boost IoT and Deep-Tech innovation

TechnologyIndia's smartphone exports hit record $7.72 billion in Q1FY26, Apple leads with $6 billion

TechnologyIndia’s chip market poised to scale $110 billion by 2030

TechnologyQ1 Earnings Review: Brokerages give mixed outlook, earnings downgrade ratio drops

Technology172 hydrocarbon discoveries in 10 years, 62 offshore, as Modi govt opens ‘No-Go’ Zones: Hardeep Puri