WASHINGTON, Oct. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts aboard the Dragon spacecraft safely splashed down Friday off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, finishing the company’s fourth business crew mission to the International Space Station. The worldwide crew of 4 spent 170 days in orbit.
NASA astronauts Bob Hines, Kjell Lindgren, and Jessica Watkins and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti returned to Earth in a parachute-assisted splashdown at 4:55 p.m. EDT. Teams aboard SpaceX restoration vessels retrieved the spacecraft and astronauts. After returning to shore, all astronauts will fly to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Cristoforetti then will board a aircraft to Europe.
“Welcome home Crew-4! This international crew has spent nearly six months on the International Space Station conducting science for the benefit of all. Their work aboard the orbiting laboratory will help prepare future explorers for future space missions,” mentioned NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Working and living on the space station is the opportunity of a lifetime, but it also requires these explorers to make sacrifices, especially time away from loved ones. Kjell, Bob, Jessica and Samantha, thank you for your contributions over the past six months to science, innovation, and discovery!”
The Crew-4 mission launched at 3:52 a.m. EDT April 27 on a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Less than 16 hours later, Dragon docked to the Harmony module’s space-facing port. The astronauts undocked from the identical port at 12:05 p.m. Friday, to start the journey dwelling.
Hines, Lindgren, Watkins, and Cristoforetti traveled 72,168,935 miles throughout their mission, spent 170 days aboard the house station, and accomplished 2,720 orbits round Earth. Lindgren has logged 311 days in house over his two flights, and with the completion of their flight in the present day, Cristoforetti has logged 369 days in house on her two flights, making her second on the all-time listing for many days in house by a girl. The Crew-4 mission was the primary spaceflight for Hines and Watkins.
Throughout their mission, the Crew-4 astronauts contributed to a bunch of science and upkeep actions and know-how demonstrations. Cristoforetti accomplished two spacewalks with Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev to carry out station upkeep and upgrades.
Crew-4 continued work on investigations documenting how improvements to the space diet have an effect on immune perform and the intestine microbiome, figuring out the impact of fuel temperature on the flammability of a fabric, exploring potential adverse effects on astronaut hearing from gear noise and microgravity, and finding out whether or not components increase or decrease the stability of emulsions. The astronauts additionally investigated microgravity-induced changes in the human immune system similar to aging, examined a novel water-reclamation membrane, and examined a concrete alternative made with a fabric discovered in lunar and Martian mud.
The spacecraft, named Freedom by Crew-4, will return to Florida for inspection and processing at SpaceX’s Dragon Lair, the place groups will look at the spacecraft’s knowledge and efficiency all through the flight.
The Crew-4 flight is a part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and its return to Earth follows on the heels of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 launch, which docked to the station Oct. 6, starting one other science expedition.
The purpose of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is protected, dependable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station. This already has offered extra analysis time and has elevated the chance for discovery aboard humanity’s microgravity testbed for exploration, together with serving to NASA put together for human exploration of the Moon and Mars.
Learn extra about NASA’s Commercial Crew program at:
https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
SOURCE NASA
