Awọn awòràwọ NASA mẹta ati alamọja apinfunni ti Ile-iṣẹ Alafo ti Yuroopu kan kuro ni Ibusọ Oju-aye Kariaye ni kutukutu Ọjọbọ sinu kapusulu SpaceX Dragon kan, ti nlọ fun isọjade ni Gulf of Mexico ni etikun Florida lati fi ipari si irin-ajo ọjọ 176 ni orbit.
SpaceX’s Dragon Endurance spacecraft undocked from the station’s Harmony module at 1:20 a.m. EDT (0520 GMT), about 15 minutes later than scheduled to allow SpaceX engineers to evaluate a timing issue on the crew’s cockpit displays associated with data received from NASA’s network data relay satellites.
As expected, the timing issue resolved itself when the Dragon spacecraft disconnected power and data umbilicals linked to the space station. Twelve hooks opened to allow the capsule to back away from the complex with a series of thruster firings.
Within a half-hour, the Dragon Endurance spacecraft moved outside the space station’s approach corridor. Mission control confirmed the capsule was on a safe trajectory to begin lining up for re-entry and splashdown early Friday. The Dragon capsule left behind a team of seven astronauts and cosmonauts on the station’s Expedition 67 crew.
“Station, Endurance,” Chari radioed after undocking. “Good luck to Expedition 67. It was great being up there with you guys. We can’t wait to see all the awesome work you guys continue to do on that amazing orbital laboratory up there.”
Chari, pilot Tom Marshburn, astronaut Kayla Barron, and ESA mission specialist Matthias Maurer launched Nov. 10 on the Crew-3 mission, riding a Falcon 9 rocket into orbit from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Dragon Endurance spacecraft docked with the space station about 21-and-a-half hours later.
Physical separation.
SpaceX’s Dragon Endurance spacecraft has departed the International Space Station with commander Raja Chari, pilot Tom Marshburn, mission specialist Kayla Barron and European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer.https://t.co/SBbgyLgfnI pic.twitter.com/RShjyThffF
- Afẹfẹ Aaye Bayi (@SpaceflightNow) O le 5, 2022
Chari and his crewmates will have some off-duty time in the Dragon spacecraft until re-entry preparations get underway late Thursday. The astronauts will put on their custom-fitted spacesuits before a deorbit burn at 11:53 p.m. EDT Thursday (0353 GMT Friday).
The braking maneuver will slow the spacecraft’s velocity enough for Earth’s gravity to pull the capsule back into the atmosphere. The craft will deploy four main parachutes before a relatively gentle splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida at 12:43 a.m. EDT (0443 GMT).
With a splashdown just after midnight Friday, the Crew-3 astronauts will have spent more than 176 days in orbit.
Marshburn, a veteran astronaut on his third flight to space, ceremonially handed over command of the International Space Station crew to Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev Wednesday, a few hours before departure.
“O jẹ ọjọ ti o nifẹ fun wa,” Marshburn sọ. "A ti n fò ni ayika ibudo naa, n ṣajọ awọn fọto iṣẹju to kẹhin wa, awọn nkan iṣẹju iṣẹju wa ti o kẹhin, ati murasilẹ lati wa si ile, nitorinaa diẹ ti ọjọ kikoro fun gbogbo wa.”
“I think, for all of us, it’s really hard to leave,” Barron said. “We’re really looking forward to getting back to our families and our amazing support network on the ground.”
The Crew-3 astronauts are part of SpaceX’s third operational crew rotation flight to the space station for NASA. The crew was on-board the research outpost as diplomatic relations between the United States and Russia, the two most significant partners on the station, frayed in the aftermath of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine.
Ibajẹ lati ikọlu naa yori si idaduro ti ọpọlọpọ awọn iṣẹ akanṣe ifọkanbalẹ laarin Russia ati awọn orilẹ-ede Oorun, pẹlu awọn iṣẹ ifilọlẹ Soyuz ni ibudo ọkọ ofurufu Yuroopu ni Guiana Faranse, ati idaduro ailopin ti iṣẹ ESA-Russian ExoMars ti a ṣeto fun ifilọlẹ nigbamii eyi odun.
Ṣugbọn iṣẹ lori aaye aaye tẹsiwaju laisi idilọwọ. Ibusọ naa nilo awọn idasi bọtini lati AMẸRIKA ati awọn apakan Russian lati ṣetọju awọn iṣẹ.
"Mo ro pe ohun-ini pipẹ ti aaye aaye jẹ eyiti o le jẹ ifowosowopo agbaye ati aaye alaafia," Marshburn sọ pe o ti fi aṣẹ fun Artemyev. “Oleg, o jẹ alagbara pupọ ati iriri cosmonaut. Mo mọ pe a yoo lọ kuro ni ibudo aaye ni ọwọ to dara pẹlu rẹ. ”
Artemyev de ni ibudo ni Oṣù pẹlu meji Russian cosmonaut crewmates - Sergey Korsakov ati Denis Matveev.
“A ni akoko kukuru kan (papọ)… ati ni bayi a jẹ arakunrin ati arabinrin,” Artemyev sọ fun awọn awòràwọ̀ Crew-3. “Ohun ti o ṣe pataki julọ fun mi, fun Sergey ati fun Denis, ni idile wa, awọn ọmọ wa, alaafia laarin awọn orilẹ-ede wa, ati ọrẹ wa. o ṣeun fun ọrẹ rẹ. ”
The Crew-3 astronauts were being replaced by the recently-arrived Crew-4 astronauts, who launched last week on SpaceX’s Dragon Freedom spacecraft. They arrived at the station April 27 for a mission slated to last at least four months.
Chari, Barron, and Maurer are concluding their first space mission.
Marshburn is in the home stretch of his third spaceflight. In a press conference last month, Marshburn said he was looking forward to a hot bath.
“Mo padanu aye wa,” ni o sọ. “O padanu mi ti a fi mi silẹ labẹ awọn awọsanma ati rilara ojo ti n bọ lati oke ati rilara awọn ika ẹsẹ mi ninu iyanrin, koriko.”
Ọkan ninu awọn ifojusi ti iṣẹ apinfunni fun Marshburn, dokita iṣoogun kan ati oniṣẹ abẹ ọkọ ofurufu NASA tẹlẹ, n wo awọn awòràwọ ẹlẹgbẹ ẹlẹgbẹ rẹ ni iriri ọkọ ofurufu aaye fun igba akọkọ.
“Iyẹn jẹ iriri ti o ni imunilori pupọ ati iyalẹnu, nini awọn ẹlẹgbẹ mẹta,” o sọ. “Wọn ti lọ lati jijẹ rookies si awọn Ogbo.”
Marshburn ṣafikun pe igbesi aye ti o wa lori ibudo aaye ko ni ipa taara nipasẹ awọn ibatan ti o nira laarin Russia ati awọn orilẹ-ede Iwọ-oorun lori Earth.
“O ti jẹ alamọdaju pupọ, ibatan ọrẹ pupọ papọ nibi,” Marshburn sọ. “A nilo ara wa gaan fun iwalaaye wa. O jẹ agbegbe ti o lewu, nitorinaa a kan lọ pẹlu ikẹkọ wa, a lọ pẹlu mimọ pe gbogbo wa wa nibi fun idi kanna, lati ṣawari, ati lati tọju aaye aaye aaye yii ni itọju ati lati tẹsiwaju ṣiṣe imọ-jinlẹ ninu awọn ile-iṣẹ wa.
“Nitorinaa agbara ko yipada,” Marshburn sọ ni idahun si ibeere kan lati Spaceflight Bayi. “A ni nipa itan-akọọlẹ ọdun 40 ti ṣiṣẹ pẹlu awọn ara ilu Russia (ni aaye), ati pe gbogbo rẹ ni iṣẹ pupọ ati ṣere nibi.”
imeeli onkọwe.
Tẹle Stephen Clark lori Twitter: @ StephenClark1.
