Hawthorne-based SpaceX's astronauts begin…
Hawthorne-based SpaceX's astronauts begin journey home from Space Station
Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken took part in a farewell ceremony Saturday, Aug. 1, and then their SpaceX Dragon capsule undocked from the station and headed off for a planned Sunday splashdown.
NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken prepare Saturday to undock from the International Space Station, aiming to travel home to Earth aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule. Photo: SpaceX
By Wire Services | Mercury News, Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: August 1, 2020 at 4:47 p.m. | UPDATED: August 4, 2020 at 3:45 p.m.
This image from video made available by NASA shows the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule as it undocks from the International Space Station on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2020. (NASA via AP)
This photo provided by NASA shows, from left, front, astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley during an interview on the International Space Station on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2020. Behnken and Hurley are scheduled to leave the International Space Station in a SpaceX capsule on Saturday and splashdown off the coast of Florida on Sunday. (NASA via AP)
This image made available by NASA astronaut Bob Behnken on Friday, July 31, 2020, shows him inside the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft docked to the International Space Station. SpaceX and NASA plan to bring Behnken and Doug Hurley back Sunday afternoon, aiming for splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico just off the Florida Panhandle. (NASA via AP)
This July 1, 2020 photo made available by NASA shows the SpaceX Crew Dragon, right, docked to the International Space station, during a spacewalk conducted by astronauts Bob Behnken and Chris Cassidy. On Wednesday, July 29, 2020, SpaceX and NASA cleared the Dragon crew capsule to depart the International Space Station and head home after a two-month flight. (NASA via AP)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., Monday, July 20, 2020. The rocket is carrying ANASIS II, a national security satellite for South Korea. (Craig Bailey/Florida Today via AP)
Tesla and SpaceX Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk speaks at the SATELLITE Conference and Exhibition in Washington, Monday, March 9, 2020. (Susan Walsh/AP)
This image from video made available by NASA shows the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, left, before it undocks from the International Space Station on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2020. (NASA via AP)
In this image from video made available by NASA, astronauts Doug Hurley, left, and Bob Behnken prepare for undocking from the International Space Station, aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2020. (NASA via AP)
A pair of NASA astronauts undocked from the International Space Station and sailed off for the most important part of their test mission, powered by Hawthorne-based SpaceX: returning to Earth with a rare splashdown on Sunday, Aug. 2.
Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken took part in a farewell ceremony Saturday, Aug. 1, at the station, several hours ahead of their departure on a SpaceX Dragon capsule.
Separation confirmed. Dragon performing 4 departure burns to move away from the @Space_Station pic.twitter.com/ea14fozdO8
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 1, 2020
The capsule was unhooked from an array of docking hooks and "umbilicals" at 4:35 p.m. California time — the craft operating on power and life-support systems independent from the space station — and then a 12-second firing of its thrusters helped to propel the Dragon toward Earth. A series of additional "departure burns" helped the craft move clear of the station and get on its way home.
"@AstroBehnken & @Astro_Doug are on their way home to planet Earth," NASA officials posted Saturday afternoon on Twitter.
Space station commander Chris Cassidy rang the ship's bell as Dragon pulled away, 267 miles (430 kilometers) above Johannesburg, South Africa. Within a few minutes, all that could be seen of the capsule was a pair of flashing lights against the black void of space.
"It's been a great two months, and we appreciate all you've done as a crew to help us prove out Dragon on its maiden flight," Hurley radioed to the space station.
"Safe travels," Cassidy replied, "and have a successful landing."
Despite approaching Hurricane Isaias, NASA said the weather looked favorable for a Sunday splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico near Pensacola, Florida, the new prime site. It will be the first splashdown for astronauts in 45 years. The last time was following the joint U.S.-Soviet mission in 1975 known as Apollo-Soyuz.
The Dragon spacecraft is expected to splash down in the Atlantic Ocean at 11:42 a.m. California time Sunday, arriving at one of seven "targeted water landing sites," according to SpaceX.
We are 'GO' for undocking of the @SpaceX Dragon Endeavour from @Space_Station. Our #LaunchAmerica crew aboard the spacecraft confirms their visors are down, and they are ready for departure: pic.twitter.com/otZPvYH18w
— NASA (@NASA) August 1, 2020
The astronauts' homecoming will cap a two-month mission that ended a prolonged launch drought in the U.S., which has relied on Russian rockets to ferry astronauts to the space station since the end of the shuttle era.
In launching Hurley and Behnken from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on May 30, Elon Musk's company became the first private firm to send people into orbit. Now SpaceX is on the verge of becoming the first company to bring people back from orbit.
"The hardest part was getting us launched, but the most important is bringing us home," Behnken said.
A successful splashdown, Behnken said, will bring U.S.-crew launching capability "full circle."
Cassidy, who will remain on board with two Russians until October, presented Hurley with the small U.S. flag left behind by the previous astronauts to launch to the space station from U.S. soil, in July 2011. Hurley was the pilot of that final shuttle mission.
The flag — which also flew on the first shuttle flight in 1981 — became a prize for the company that launched astronauts first.
Elon Musk's SpaceX easily beat Boeing, which isn't expected to launch its first crew until next year and will land in the U.S. Southwest. The flag has one more flight after this one: to the moon on NASA's Artemis program in the next few years.
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"We're a little sad to see them go," Cassidy said, "but very excited for what it means to our international space program to add this capability" of commercial crew capsules.
Hurley and Behnken also are bringing back a sparkly blue and purple dinosaur named Tremor. Their young sons chose the toy to accompany their fathers on the historic mission.
"Dragon departing." The @SpaceX Dragon Endeavour undocked and separated from @Space_Station. @AstroBehnken & @Astro_Doug are on their way home to planet Earth. pic.twitter.com/VHYSblw3kU
Behnken said he and Hurley spent the day preparing for the trip, "working through the onboard training that will refamiliarize us with the splashdown activities, what our responsibilities will be, the things that we'll monitor."
But even before their mission is completed, SpaceX is already deep into planning for the next one. Assuming there are no glitches with the remainder of Hurley and Behnken's demonstration mission, dubbed Demo-2, the company will move ahead with Crew Dragon's first "operational mission."
That mission will launch four astronauts — Victor Glover, Mike Hopkins, Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi — to the space station, sometime in late September.
The Associated Press and City News Service contributed to this report
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