NASA's Crew-2 Mission Successfully Returns To Earth, Crw-3 Mission Launches Soon

JAKARTA NASA's Crew-2 mission achieved success with the safe and smooth return of the Dragon capsule handled by SpaceX's commercial team. Four astronauts were caught in a brief video from inside the Endeavor spacecraft after landing. They smile and give a thumbs up and a V gesture with their fingers to represent victory, peace, or both.

This is SpaceX's second commercial mission to deliver people and cargo to the International Space Station. In addition, this was the first crewed flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft named Resilience, which was launched in November last year.

Crew Dragon carried four astronauts aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and piloted it to the International Space Station and docked. The crew spent more than five months in space before taking off and landing in early May 2021. SpaceX Crew-2 launched soon after, proving the speed and reliability of their partnership with NASA.

NASA's Crew-2 astronauts safely land in the Gulf of Mexico just off Pensacola, Florida, on November 8, 2021, after a 198-day stay on the International Space Station (ISS). They traveled 84,653,119 miles and orbited Earth 3,194 times.

The Crew-2 astronauts also made four space trips, participated in various science missions, and contributed to the continued maintenance of the space station.

NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, along with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet looked excited, as seen in the video shared by NASA via Twitter. A lengthy re-entry was filmed from the ground by Jonny D and shared on YouTube.

Immediately after the recovery of SpaceX Crew-2 by the recovery ship SpaceX GO Navigator, the next mission is almost starting. Crew-3 is currently scheduled to launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 9:03 p.m. EST, Wednesday, November 10, 2021, if all goes well.

The Endurance spacecraft is another Crew Dragon mission to the International Space Station planning to dock the following night, November 11, at 7:00 p.m. EST.

NASA astronaut Raja Chari will be in command of the mission with Tom Marshburn as the pilot. Mission specialists Kayla Barron (NASA) and Matthias Maurer (ESA) will join them for a six-month science mission on the space station. The launch and docking of the Crew Dragon capsule with the ISS will be broadcast live on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the website.