Watch Live: Agency’s SpaceX Crew-1 Return to Earth
Update: 2 p.m. CDT April 30
NASA's SpaceX Crew-1 mission with NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker, and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), is now targeting a return to Earth no earlier than about 1:57 a.m. CDT Sunday, May 2, in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. The Crew Dragon spacecraft, named Resilience, is scheduled to undock from the International Space Station at 7:35 p.m. Saturday, May 1, to begin the journey home. NASA TV coverage of hatch closure, scheduled for 5:20 p.m., will begin at 5 p.m.
The return to Earth — and activities leading up to the return — will air live on NASA Television, the NASA App, and the agency's website.
Spaceflight operations are dynamic, and times can change quickly and often. Be sure to keep NASA's Commercial Crew blog bookmarked for timely mission updates.
Update: 10 a.m. CDT April 30
NASA and SpaceX have decided to move Crew-1’s undocking and splashdown from Friday, April 30, and Saturday, May 1, respectively, following a review of the forecast weather conditions in the splashdown zones off the coast of Florida, which continue to predict wind speeds above the return criteria. Mission teams from NASA and SpaceX will meet again today to further review opportunities for the safe return of Crew-1. Crew Dragon is in great health on the space station, and teams will continue to look for the optimal conditions for both splashdown and recovery.
Find timely mission coverage, NASA's commercial crew blog, and more information about the mission at: https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
*** Original article ***
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission with NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker, and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), is now targeting a return to Earth at 10:36 a.m. CDT Saturday, May 1, in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. The Crew Dragon spacecraft, named Resilience, is scheduled to undock from the International Space Station at 4:55 p.m. Friday, April 30, to begin the journey home.
NASA and SpaceX agreed to move Crew-1’s undocking and splashdown from Wednesday, April 28, following a review of forecast weather conditions in the splashdown zones off the coast of Florida, which currently predict wind speeds above the recovery criteria. Teams will continue to monitor weather conditions for splashdown ahead of Friday’s planned undocking.
The return to Earth — and activities leading up to the return — will air live on NASA Television, the NASA App, and the agency’s website.
Crew-1 is the first of six crewed missions NASA and SpaceX will fly as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, which worked with the U.S. aerospace industry to return launches with astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from American soil.
In advance of departure from the space station, Crew-1 astronaut and station Commander Shannon Walker of NASA will hand over command of the station to JAXA astronaut and Crew-2 member Akihiko Hoshide during a change of command and farewell event.
The Crew Dragon will undock autonomously and depart from the space station with the capability to splashdown at one of seven targeted landing zones in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. Resilience also will return to Earth important and time-sensitive research. For normal crew rescue and recovery operations, the NASA and SpaceX teams select two primary splashdown locations from the seven possible locations about two weeks prior to return, with additional decision milestones taking place prior to crew boarding the spacecraft, during free flight, and before Crew Dragon performs a deorbit burn.
NASA and SpaceX closely coordinate with the U.S. Coast Guard to establish a 10-nautical-mile safety zone around the expected splashdown location to ensure safety for the public and for those involved in the recovery operations, as well as the crew aboard the returning spacecraft.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 astronauts: Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker, and Soichi Noguchi of JAXA. Credits: NASA
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 return coverage is as follows (all times are Central):
Friday, April 30
2:30 p.m. – NASA TV coverage begins for 2:50 p.m. hatch closure
4:30 p.m. – NASA TV coverage begins for 4:55 p.m. undocking
Saturday, May 1
10:36 a.m. – Splashdown (NASA TV will provide continuous coverage from undocking to splashdown)
12:30 p.m. – Return to Earth news conference at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, with the following participants:
- Kathy Lueders, associate administrator, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
- Steve Stich, manager, Commercial Crew Program, Kennedy Space Center
- Joel Montalbano, manager, International Space Station, Johnson
- Holly Ridings, chief flight director, Johnson
- Hans Koenigsmann, senior advisor, Flight Reliability, SpaceX
- Hiroshi Sasaki, vice president and director general, JAXA’s Human Spaceflight Technology Directorate
Learn more about space station activities by following @space_station, and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts and the space station blog.
Learn more about splashdown locations, weather criteria, and recovery logistics, at:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-s-spacex-crew-rescue-and-recovery/
See full mission coverage, NASA's commercial crew blog, and more information about the mission at: