The Dragon capsule was able to withstand the dizzying descent thanks to its heat shield.
A capsule of the American company SpaceX from the International Space Station (ISS) in which four astronauts were traveling fell on Monday at the last minute off the coast of Florida, according to the live broadcast broadcast by NASA.
Braked by the Earth’s atmosphere, as well as by four huge parachutes, the Dragon capsule was able to withstand the dizzying descent thanks to its heat shield.
At around 10:33 p.m. EDT (03:33 GMT Tuesday), the capsule landed in the Gulf of Mexico, ending the Crew-2 mission.
A ship recovered the capsule, from whose hatch the astronauts emerged. As a precautionary measure, they were placed on stretchers and evacuated to the ground by helicopter.
Since arriving on the ISS on April 24, the crew, consisting of two Americans, a French and a Japanese, have conducted hundreds of experiments and helped improve the station’s solar panels.
The four astronauts aboard the Dragon capsule, dubbed Endeavor (effort), undocked from the ISS at 14:05 (19:05 GMT), NASA announced.
Endeavor then circled the ISS for about an hour and a half to take pictures.
Broken toilet
This is the first mission of its kind since a Russian Soyuz spacecraft carried out a similar maneuver in 2018.
The Dragon capsule has a small circular window at the top of its front hatch through which astronauts can take pictures.
“Proud to have once again represented France in space! Next stop, the Moon … ”, tweeted Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency (ESA).
Crew-2’s return to Earth was delayed one day by strong winds.
Bad weather and what NASA called a “minor medical problem” have delayed the launch of the next group of astronauts, the Crew-3 mission, scheduled for Wednesday.
Until then, the ISS will only be inhabited by three astronauts, two Russians and one American.
SpaceX began giving astronauts taxi service to the ISS in 2020, ending nine years of America’s dependence on Russian rockets for travel following the end of the space shuttle program.
The crew also faced one last challenge on their journey home. All four had to wear diapers after a problem was detected with the capsule’s waste management system.
They had no access to a toilet for about 10 hours, from the time the hatch was closed at 17:40 GMT until after the splashdown, about 10 hours later.
“Of course it is not optimal, but we are prepared to cope,” NASA astronaut Megan McArthur said at a press conference before departure. (I)
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