SpaceX Crew-1 astronauts return home delayed until Saturday, NASA says
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA says the return of SpaceX's Crew-1 astronauts will have to wait until Saturday, May 1.
According to NASA, the splashdown is targeted for 11:36 a.m. in the Gulf of Mexico. The spacecraft is set to undock from the International Space Station at 5:55 p.m. on Friday, April 30.
"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," NASA said in an update. "Teams will continue to monitor weather conditions for splashdown ahead of Friday’s planned undocking."
The NASA, SpaceX Crew-1 mission lifted off on November 15, 2020. NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi rode a Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS).
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The astronauts have remained there ever since.
NASA said that the Crew-1 astronauts discussed the upcoming mission home on Monday.
The successful launch of SpaceX Crew-1 was reportedly the first flight of a NASA-certified commercial human spacecraft system in history. While at the ISS, they worked on several experiments.
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For example, they are said to have worked on tissue chips that mimic the structure and function of human organs to understand the role of microgravity on human health and diseases and translate those findings to improve human health on Earth.
NASA said that they also grew radishes in different types of light and soils to produce food in space and tested a new system to remove heat from spacesuits.
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