Science & Technology

SpaceX returns astronauts to Earth after 6 months at ISS

Washington, Nov 8 (EFE).- Four astronauts returned to Earth with SpaceX Crew Dragon on Monday after six months at the International Space Station (ISS).

NASA and SpaceX reported that the capsule landed in the sea off Florida, United States, late Monday night as planned.

“The @SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour has splashed down off the coast of Florida at 10:33pm ET (03:33 UTC), returning the Crew-2 astronauts back to Earth after more than six months aboard the @Space_Station,” NASA tweeted.

On board the capsule were NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Akihiko Hoshide from Japan’s space agency, and Frenchman Thomas Pesquet from the European Space Agency (ESA).

About eight hours earlier, at 19:05 GMT, the process of separating from the ISS to travel to Earth began.

Crew-2 left the ISS before the incoming Crew-3 arrived, with the latter’s expected Sunday launch postponed by weather issues and then by an undisclosed astronaut medical issue.

For now, the US agency is sticking to its Wednesday night Crew-3 launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. They will also stay at the ISS for six months.

The new mission will transport commander Raja Chari, pilot Tom Marshburn, NASA mission specialist Kayla Barron, and ESA German scientist Matthias Maurer, who will be the 600th person in space.

The members of the international Crew-2 mission returned to Earth carrying more than 240 kilograms of scientific material.

Crew-2 was the second of six manned missions to and from the ISS that Elon Musk’s firm will carry out under a contract with NASA for the dispatch of astronauts from US soil. EFE

at-lce/tw

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