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Astronauts successfully depart the ISS aboard SpaceX Dragon, starting their trip home

Astronauts successfully depart the ISS aboard SpaceX Dragon, starting their trip home

3 years ago
Anonymous $qOHwDUKgAF

https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/01/astronauts-successfully-depart-the-iss-aboard-spacex-dragon-starting-their-trip-home/

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley have successfully undocked from the International Space Station, which is the first crucial stage of their return to Earth. Next, they’ll travel on a coast phase that will take them on a descent course back through the atmosphere from space, shedding speed as they prepare to deploy the parachutes of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and drop into the Atlantic Ocean for recovery.

The undocking, coast and splashdown phase are all meant to be performed entirely via automation, with the control systems SpaceX designed for Crew Dragon managing the entire process, including burns to control the capsule’s travel away from the Station and its controlled descent through the atmosphere. While re-entering the atmosphere, the Dragon will undergo tremendous stress, and its angle of descent is intended to slow its velocity to the point where it can safely deploy those parachutes to slow its fall even further, all the while keeping Behnken and Hurley safe.