![\"SpaceX\u2019s](\"https:\/\/blogs.nasa.gov\/spacestation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/240\/2020\/08\/ksc-20190308-ph_SPX01_0192.jpg\")
<\/a>NASA\u00a0astronauts\u00a0Robert Behnken<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Douglas Hurley<\/a>\u00a0are beginning their final day in orbit inside the Crew Dragon \u201cEndeavour\u201d spacecraft ahead of splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico at 2:48 p.m. EDT this afternoon.<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s\u00a0live coverage<\/a>\u00a0of the return continues.<\/p>\n To wake them, Mission Control Hawthorne played the\u00a0dads an audio message from\u00a0 their sons.<\/p>\n Conditions remain \u201cGo\u201d at the primary targeted site, off the coast of\u00a0Pensacola, and alternate site off the coast of\u00a0Panama City\u00a0in the Gulf of Mexico for splashdown and recovery.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the timeline for return activities (all times Eastern):<\/p>\n 1:51 p.m. \u2013 Crew Dragon performs claw separation. The claw is located on Crew Dragon\u2019s trunk, connecting thermal control, power, and avionics system components located on the trunk to the capsule.<\/p>\n Crew Dragon autonomously undocked from the International Space Station\u2019s Harmony module at 7:35\u00a0p.m.\u00a0Saturday,\u00a0two very small engine burns\u00a0separating\u00a0Crew Dragon from the station, and\u00a0the spacecraft slowly maneuvered away from the orbital laboratory. Once flying free, Dragon Endeavour autonomously executed four departure burns that moved the spaceship away from the space station and the crew began the flight home.\u00a0A phasing burn overnight put it on its path toward\u00a0Pensacola.<\/p>\n The duo arrived at the orbiting laboratory on May 31, following a successful launch on May 30 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.\u00a0During their\u00a062\u00a0days aboard station, Behnken and Hurley contributed more than 100 hours of time to supporting the\u00a0orbiting laboratory\u2019s investigations<\/a>, participated in public engagement events, and supported four spacewalks with Behnken and Cassidy to install new batteries in the station\u2019s power grid and upgrade other station hardware.<\/p>\n More details about the return can be found in the\u00a0Top 10 Things to Know for NASA\u2019s SpaceX Demo-2 Return<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0splashdown weather criteria fact sheet<\/a>.<\/p>\n More details about the mission and\u00a0NASA\u2019s commercial crew program can be found in the\u00a0press kit online<\/a>\u00a0and by following the\u00a0commercial crew blog<\/a>,\u00a0@commercial_crew<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0commercial crew on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n Learn more about station activities by following\u202f@space_station<\/a>\u202fand\u00a0@ISS_Research<\/a><\/p>\n on Twitter as well as the\u202fISS Facebook<\/a>\u202fand\u202fISS Instagram<\/a>\u202faccounts.<\/p>\n Get The Details…<\/a><\/p>\n Mark Garcia <\/p>\n Powered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley are beginning their final day in orbit inside the Crew Dragon “Endeavour” spacecraft ahead of splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico at 2:48 p.m. EDT this afternoon. NASA’s live coverage of the return continues. To wake them, Mission Control Hawthorne played the dads an audio message from their sons. Conditions remain “Go” at the primary targeted … Continue reading \n
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