Crew-4 Mission | Return

thank you you're watching live coverage of the NASA SpaceX crew 4 Mission as they return back to planet Earth Dragon Freedom Departed the International Space Station at 905 a.m Pacific time this morning with NASA astronauts Joe lingrin Bob Hines Jessica Watkins and Samantha Christopher ready currently they're on their way to the targeted Splashdown site off the coast of Jacksonville Florida my name is Jesse Anderson I'm a production engineering manager here at SpaceX and joining me today from NASA Communications is Sandra Jones thanks so much for having me Jesse it's great to be here so upon departing space station Dragon underwent a sequence of departure Burns and since then the crew has had a bit of a rest period and has since now kicked off preparations for re-entry in this next phase of the mission is when things really start to get exciting and dragon has a series of steps to complete before returning crew 4 home first dragon will maneuver the correct attitude in jettison its trunk which is the cylindrical unpressurized part of the spacecraft the trunk is currently connected to the AFT or the bottom section of the Dragon capsule where the heat shield is located so in order to expose the heat shield and get the vehicle ready for atmospheric re-entry will jettison the shrunk and from there the spacecraft will use its forward thrusters to perform a deorbit burn which will put dragon on a trajectory to return to Earth this burn will last just under 17 minutes once it starts and the deorbit burn uses Draco thrusters on Dragon primarily the four located on the forward bulkhead and is executed at the apogee or the very highest point of dragon's current orbit around Earth this will alter dragon's path to ultimately line it up to re-enter Earth's atmosphere and splash down off the coast of Florida now before we go any further let's take a minute to meet our crew Dr Chell lingrin was born in Taipei Taiwan but spent most of his childhood overseas in England he is married with three children and Dr lingard was an instructor and jump Master with the U.S Air Force Academy he also has a doctorate in medicine and serves as a NASA flight surgeon and then as an astronaut aboard soyuz where he spent 141 days in space during Expeditions 44 and 45 and he is the commander of dragon freedom Bob Heinz was born in Fayetteville North Carolina he's married with three daughters and he has a master of science degree in aerospace engineering and served 21 years in the U.S Air Force as a test pilot and fighter pilot in the f-15e he came to NASA as a research pilot and he's the crew for pilot for the dragon freedom on what was his first space flight and Jessica Watkins considers Lafayette Colorado her hometown her College rugby team won the National Championship in 2008. she's a geologist who completed several internships with NASA including one testing system designs for the Mars perseverance Rover she became an astronaut in 2017 and she is a mission specialist on Dragon Freedom also wrapping up her first mission to space and the second mission specialist is Samantha Christopher Eddie she was born in Milan Italy and has two children she's a fighter pilot and in 2013 Christopher Eddy launched into space aboard a soyuz for a long duration space flight to the International Space Station several years later she was awarded the night Grand Cross of the order freedom SpaceX the orbit sequence start in five minutes for your copies and great news bear the deorbit burn will begin in about five minutes from now uh several years later she was awarded the night Grand Cross of the order of Merit from the presidents of Italy this was Christopher Rady's second long duration stay on the International Space Station now to prepare for these upcoming events right now the dragon spacecraft is doing a couple of things autonomously it's isolating the thermal control system fluid Loops from the radiator this system is what will help keep the internal temperature of dragon temperate for Shell Bob Jessica and Samantha during re-entry now dragon is also initiating separation of the claw mechanism which will terminate data power and fluid connections between the capsule and the trunk and we are just a few minutes away from the beginning of the cloth separation procedure but I did just want to mention a fun fact about Samantha Christopher Eddie um since you had just discussed her background so this was her second space flight and she now has a cumulative 369 days in space which is second only to the uh record holder Peggy Whitson for longest space flight by a woman so Samantha is now second in the running so pretty special for her wow that's pretty incredible that's a that's a lot of time out in space so that's pretty cool over a year yeah 369 days quite a chunk of change for sure so next up we are looking ahead towards the claw separation as you mentioned and then following that we will have the trunk that separates after that we did hear a call out that we're just about five minutes away from that process beginning so we will stand by and look towards that here shortly [Applause] and here we are getting a really great view of the recovery boat that is staged off the coast of Jacksonville Florida today's recovery vessel is named Megan after Crew 2 astronaut Megan McArthur the teams are ready and looking forward to supporting Splashdown here in just about an hour from now we are targeting 1 55 PM Pacific time for Splashdown today [Applause] and so once we see Dragon splash down later today we will have some fast boats that go out and work on cutting the parachutes and then the capsule will actually be brought onto the ship um in that view you saw there there was um a net and that's called the the mess and that's where the dragon vehicle is brought into and then that part will be rotated and the crew will be able to egress the capsule and then we'll see them for the first time on Earth in about six months yeah and there is a definitely a process for getting each one of the astronauts out of dragon you know they have been out in space for about six months so we will have a medical team there uh checking in on the team and each one of the individuals as they step out of the Dragon vehicle so we're now coming up on just about four minutes or so until we hear the call out for claw separation and you are getting a view here from inside Mission Control Houston on the left hand of your screen as well as Mission Control here in Hawthorne California on the right hand of your screen and it's a little difficult to tell from this view but if you're looking at the flight director's console which is on the left hand of the screen about the third row up you might be able to spot a couple vases of roses and this is a very special tradition that has been ongoing for over 30 years in Mission Control Houston we have a very special family in Texas that sends flowers during missions and during returns and it's something that the team in Mission Control Houston always says that they look forward to they know it's go time when they see the Roses on the console of the room that is so awesome just a nice little Pleasant set of flowers for all the people that are hard-working you know it's not just the crew on board the International Space Station there are so many teams involved with you know these crew flights so that that's really cool to see and a nice touch for everybody there in Mission Control exactly right Freedom SpaceX the orbit sequence start and there we did hear the call out that the the orbit sequence star is underway so next up we'll be looking towards trunk separation here shortly we should hear that call out here soon right now the um the claw is where the umbilicals for power and Telemetry from the trunk and its solar arrays are connected to the capsule so we'll be looking for those to be disconnected and then Dragon will be running exclusively on its battery power and then after that we'll see the trunk jettison and that trunk jettison will harmlessly burn up in the Earth's atmosphere it's not necessary for re-entry so at that point it will be just the small capsule kind of like the one you see right behind us here it'll look very similar to that as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere yeah and actually Jetta setting the trunk will expose the heat shield that's required for re-entry uh as Dragon reoriented itself uh for Splash Mountain Splashdown so we are standing by for confirmation of trunk separation but so far everything has gone very smoothly today the weather is looking good in the Splashdown Zone and we're excited to see the crew on the ground I'm sure they're excited to be back home after their mission in space and then here's another view from the Megan recovery vessel that is staged off the coast of Jacksonville Florida we did hear that the helicopters are already there and have landed successfully those will bring the crew back to land after they do splash down and get uh taken out of the water and onto the recovery vessel and so the crew will return to Houston Texas and they'll land at Ellington Field just a few minutes away from the Johnson Space Center and then Samantha Christopher Eddie will return to Europe as she is a European Space Agency astronaut so standing by for confirmation of trunk separation and this process like much with dragon is all done autonomously Freedom SpaceX we see nominal trunk jettison so great news there the trunk has been jettisoned and it looks like everything performed as expected during that trunk separation so with the Telemetry excuse me looking good the nitrox system is now primed for cabin and suit Cooling and the heat shield is now exposed and ready for that atmospheric re-entry experience my mid company your operations copy Freedom we had a hand over there but just to confirm we did see a nominal trunk jettison created copies some good comms between the crew and the corps here in Mission Control now up next we have the final steps that Dragon will perform prior to re-entry the slew or maneuver to deorbit burn attitude and the deorbit burn itself now this is the last time that the forward draco's which are the fourth thrusters located on top of the vehicle will ignite the orbit burn will place dragon on a precise trajectory to return to the Splashdown Zone off the coast of Florida and will last about 17 minutes once it starts and once this deorbit burn does take place we are really committed there is not really a turning back point after this burn as you mentioned this is a bit of a longer burn it's going to last just under 17 minutes here but we are expecting uh that burn to begin here shortly we are now in the burn attitude as you mentioned the dragon slewed or positioned itself to get into that burn attitude so here in just a couple of minutes about two minutes we expect to hear that the the orbit burn has begun and that will last about 17 minutes once it starts thank you and once this deorbit burn is complete the next Milestone that we can look ahead towards is the nose cone closing the nose cone has been opened since the crew docked to the International Space Station on April 27th but it will close up for the re-entry process as it protects a lot of the vital equipment that is necessary so that nose cone will close after this deorbit burn but it needs to be open right now so that the thrusters uh are exposed to be able to have the burn occur coming up on one minute until the deorbit burn begins and some great live views of the crew 4 crew inside of the Dragon capsule and we are standing by for that deorbit burn to begin that should be happening any any moment now so far we've had the trunk jettisoned uh the slew to de-orbit burn attitude and again just waiting for that D orbit burn to start hearing 10 seconds until the burn begins and we do have confirmation that the deorbit burn has begun this burn is expected to last about 17 minutes So within the last 10 minutes Dragon jettisoned its trunk and initiated the deorbit burn just seconds ago that do orbit burn is now underway we are expecting about 16 more minutes to remain in that deorbit burn the burn in all is slated to last about 17 minutes and for these operations NASA and SpaceX do closely coordinate with the United States Coast Guard to establish a safe a safety zone to ensure Public Safety and of course for the safety of those involved in the recovery options operations as well as the crew on board the returning spacecraft multiple notices are issued to the Mariners in advance and during recovery operations and Coast Guard Patrol boats are deployed to discourage voters from entering the Splashdown zones we do want to stress to the public the need to respect this safety zone recovering a spacecraft from the water is a hazardous operation and any other boats interfering increases risk to the astronauts in the capsule and the teams are working to recover them from the water and the safety of those that come too close so for the safety of the crew and your safety we really do recommend you sit back and watch here as we'll be bringing you the very best possible views of our astronauts homecoming and you can see some of those views right now from the recovery vessel Megan like we mentioned earlier the deorbit burn is the last time that the four forward Draco thrusters will fire dragon Freedom has not yet entered Earth's atmosphere this deorbit burn is what will line the vehicle up and put it on its final trajectory to The Landing site off the coast of Jacksonville Florida right now Chell Bob Jessica and Samantha are using their screens to keep tabs on the burn duration which we were able to get a live view of a little bit earlier Draco Thruster firings and trajectory details like entry angle capsule perigee and how much distance remaining until the deorbit burn termination dragon is flying itself again it's autonomous so all the crew has to do is stay strapped in their seats and keep tabs on things with shell Bob Jessica and Samantha ready to de-orbit and splash down back on Earth they'll be heading to one of seven targeted sites supported by SpaceX and NASA all these sites are located off the coast of Florida either in the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean spreading the supported sites across multiple locations helps to maximize the return opportunities for this Mission and future Cruise lowering the chance that we'll have to wave off due to bad weather and earlier today NASA and SpaceX jointly selected Prime and Alternate Splashdown locations off the coast of Jacksonville which is our Prime today and where the boat is currently staged and the alternate is Tallahassee Florida the selection process works with a lot of different variables including the Space Station's orbital trajectory what Landing sites are available and how favorable weather how much free flight capability dragon has for the trip home and the sleep schedule for the returning crew members we'll start with calculating daily return options based off of the Space Station's current orbit and dragon's capabilities to maneuver and line up for re-entry the time from undocked to landing at the primary site can vary from less than six hours to more than 39 hours getting home the quickest comes with some obvious benefits but we always have to make sure that the crew if properly rested is properly rested for dynamic operations preventing us from scheduling 20 plus hour days for them trajectory and ballistics experts provide the daily opportunities that would line up dragon with seven Landing zones and split them into what we call ascending and descending opportunities Dragon uses its Draco thrusters after leaving station to execute a series of altitude lowering Maneuvers and to line up with the selected primary site it can also change to different alternate sites while in Free Flight if sudden weather moves in that we'll need to avoid and whether it's something that we're constantly looking at making the final call to proceed about two and a half hours before the crew and docks so for the crew 4 return we looked at a number of weather items some of the obvious ones are no rain or chance of lightning in the recovery zone both for the safety of the crew inside the capsule and the recovery teams on the water are also looking for wind speeds less than 15 feet per second or about 10 miles per hour and relatively calm seas so we can safely execute recovery operations which includes Landing a helicopter on the recovery ship to fly Chell Bob Jessica and Samantha back to Florida once Dragon began flying free we had a number of additional checkpoints to either proceed towards the primary site head to the alternate or select a new Zone based on real-time weather data these checks happened all the way up until we're in the final hours before the deorbit burn which is the last burn in the trip home and commits the Dragon capsule to re-entering the at the atmosphere and as we've mentioned this burn is underway we are hearing good calls that the burn is proceeding nominally or as expected which is great news now if you're just now joining the D orbit burn start just about six minutes ago it's about a 17 minute or just under 17 minute burn and we are just waiting to hear the call out for when it's complete for a normal burn uh and that's what will give us that confirmation for Dragon freedom so we are six minutes into that burn as you said it's about a 17 minute long burn so we're continuing to progress in that burn continuing to get good call outs that everything is going as expected and so during this the orbit burn this is the last time that those four forward uh Draco thrusters will fire during this mission so Freedom has not yet entered the Earth's atmosphere yet this the orbit burn is really what will line the vehicle up and put it on its final trajectory to The Landing site which of course is off the coast of Jacksonville so the crew continues to um really head home after spending 170 days in space during that time they completed 2000 and 2720 orbits of the earth and they traveled over 72 million miles it's really interesting to think about it in that perspective because the space station is moving 17 500 miles per hour which means that they orbit the Earth every 90 minutes and the crew sees a Sunset and a sunrise every 45 minutes so when you're there for 170 days you see a lot of sunsets a lot of sunrises and you travel a lot of miles over 72 million of them in fact yeah that's a lot of miles and that sounds pretty cool to see all those sunsets and sunrises development of dragon for crew started with a cargo dragon dragon was designed from the beginning for flying humans to space so much so that it even that even the first cargo Dragon had a window on it now before we could fly humans our teams implemented a number of design upgrades to make sure that both dragon and Falcon 9 are suitable for flying people and then put both vehicles through thousands of tests to prove their safety now dragon is capable of carrying up to seven passengers to and from Earth orbit and Beyond it is the only spacecraft currently flying that is capable of returning significant amounts of cargo to Earth and is the first private spacecraft to take humans to the International Space Station is fully autonomous which means that it can basically fly itself but also features a full manual override capabilities in case of emergency now standing at almost 27 feet tall from the bottom of the trunk to the top of the nose cone dragon is composed of two main elements that's the capsule which is designed to hold crew and pressurized cargo and an unpressurized section known as the trunk and for today we have already jettisoned the trunk which reveals the heat shield on Dragon As It prepares to return back home to Earth and there you can see the 27 foot tall Dragon vehicle that top part there is called the capsule and below it with the black and white um colors there is the trunk the black portion of that are um solar arrays and you do also see that nose cone at the very top there um following this deorbit burn we will close up that nose cone as we discussed but the nose cone does open for docking and remains attached to the crew Dragon spacecraft and then it will close here following the D orbit burn we are over halfway complete with the deorbit burn we have about seven minutes remaining continuing to hear good call outs everything proceeding as expected in this deorbit burn if you're just now joining us the deorbit burn started around 101 PM Pacific time it will last about 17 minutes or just under 17 minutes and we are just waiting to hear the call out for a normal burn and that will confirm the completion of the deorbit burn for Dragon freedom and prior to this deorbit burn there was a series of other Burns that took place one of those occurred uh just a short time ago and that was the propellant wasting burn or prop wasting burn and that really is to just get rid of the excess propellant that is not needed for re-entry and it helps the capsule to weigh less ahead of the re-entry sequence and coming up after the deorbit burn about 12 to 13 minutes later we will begin to close the nose cone speaking of you know dragon's previous design we used to jettison the nose cone but for reusability purposes we now keep the nose cone attached so once we finish the final burn which is the orbit burn we no longer need to use those thrusters those forward bulkhead thrusters so we can close the nose cone as it makes its way back down to earth and following the completion of the deorbit burn and the nose cone closing the crew will then begin to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere there will be a blackout period where we will not be able to communicate back and forth with them that does slash just a few minutes and that is completely expected that is happening because the plasma is building up around the vehicle but the heat shield will do its job and protect the crew throughout that process and then once the crew has gotten to the other side of the atmosphere we should have communications back with them and then we will see the drogue parachutes deploy then the main parachutes and then we'll see splash down just a short time after that really that's just about 40 minutes away from now we should see the the crews flashing down in the ocean so I'm excited for it I'm sure the crew is excited for it but we are nearing the end of this deorbit burn about five minutes remaining in it and so to talk a little bit about those parachutes that are going to deploy the uh the drug parachute slow the dragon uh down from 350 miles per hour um so that's still going pretty quick but then once the main parachutes deploy it will be it will slow down quite a bit more to less than 20 miles per hour just about four minutes remaining in the Dior bit burn so after those parachutes are deployed we will see them be cut there's a fast boat that goes out there and that's really the purpose of the fast of that particular fastboat is to cut those parachutes and that's really just to make sure that they don't get caught in the wind or pulling the crew around so those parachutes will will be cut that's expected and then after that a sniff check will be done by one of the recovery folks and that's just to ensure that there is no Vapors or anything that would pose a risk to the recovery Personnel or the crew themselves as they egress the capsule we are just a couple minutes away from the completion of the deorbit burn we are just waiting for a call out to confirm that I have about two minutes left in this deorbit burn and next up after the diorbit burn will be the nose cone closing it's very important to close that nose cone because it protects the docking mechanism and some guidance and navigation and control equipment and so at this point the heat shield is now pointed towards the Earth and is really getting ready to do the heavy lifting of protecting the capsule and of course more importantly the crew inside from the over 3500 degree Fahrenheit that's going to be exposed to as the Dragon capsule enters the Earth as part of their recovery operations so that will be coming up here shortly we have just about a minute remaining in today's deorbit burn continuing to hear good call outs that the deorbit burn is going as expected foreign systems are looking good and of course the crew is monitoring every step of the way checking in they do have iPads as well as the screens that they are able to utilize and look on the tablet as to how much time is remaining on the deorbit burn and we did just hear the deorbit Burn is complete and nominal Freedom SpaceX do you ever burn complete performance nominal nose cone closure is initiated copies nominals and uh nose cone closure initiated awesome news nominal deorbit burn and also heard the call out that the nose cone procedure is going to begin so in the background dragon is currently inhibiting those forward bulkhead Draco thrusters that we just used to complete the deorbit burn ensuring it's safe to latch the nose cone shut for re-entry also the vehicle has initiated the nitrox suit Purge this will help keep Chell Bob Jessica and Samantha cool and comfortable during re-entry and you do see that nose cone beginning to close here on your screen at this point that nose cone is closing and protecting the forward hatch for re-entry Chell Bob Jessica and Samantha are using their screens as we mentioned to monitor the Locking of the nose cone which is done by a set of hooks again this nose cone sequence is about 12 to 13 minutes long so we've got about 11 minutes left for that nose cone to officially complete its clip and good call-outs so now we're really just in a waiting period right now before we begin that re-entry period um that's coming up in just a few minutes uh when the crew themselves will re-enter the Earth's atmosphere um and as we discussed earlier the heat shield will really be protecting the crew during this time period the temperatures can reach 3500 degrees Fahrenheit but the heat shield was created to protect the crew during this Dynamic operation and as they enter through the atmosphere it's really going to slow them down right now they're going a little more than 17 000 miles per hour but as they re-enter the Earth's atmosphere once they come out on the other side they'll be going much slower and then the parachutes will just continue to slow them down from 350 miles per hour to a little less than 20 at the time that they splash down and also during re-entry uh there will be a period where you know that heat builds up around the capsule there'll be plasma that builds up around the capsule so there will be a blackout Zone which is normal uh lasts about about six minutes long um and then once we get through that blackout Zone then we'll um confirm confirmation we'll confirm confirmation with the crew to make sure that to make sure that they still um can communicate with the ground here in Mission Control thank you and so we continue to progress through the nose cone closure process at this time the hooks are closing there are two sets of six hooks so 12 hooks total that need to close to secure the nose cone and protect that critical equipment so we are getting a view on the left hand of your screen of Mission Control in Houston Texas that is where our flight controllers and the flight director monitor the International Space Station 24 hours a day seven days a week we have a variety of different console positions that specialize in different parts of the International Space Station and they all work together as a team to keep the space station flying it's now been flying for over 20 excuse me it's now been it's been continuously occupied now for over 20 years and onboard the International Space Station right now are seven human beings of course crew five that just arrived last week as well as two Russian cosmonauts and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio who arrived on a soyuz vehicle but with crew for departing earlier today it brought the population from 11 crew members down to seven and that will be the compliment for the next few months and we've been keeping the International Space Station pretty busy with NASA crew flights being about every six months so it's been pretty cool to to see um you know a different group of astronauts every six months being able to you know perform research and science on the International Space Station and that's a really great point the International Space Station truly is an orbiting laboratory crew 4 contributed to hundreds of science experiments while they were on board the International Space Station crew 5 will continue some of those science investigations as well as start new ones and what I love so much about it is many of those science investigations have direct implications to us here on Earth if you are interested in learning more about that you can check out the benefits for Humanity the 2020 version was just published here recently and you can find that on nasa.gov and so if you are just tuning in with us crew 5 has undocked from the International Space Station and the deorbit burn has taken place that was all successful and freedom SpaceX that was going to secured for entry we got some great news the nose cone sequence is complete meaning that the nose cone is now officially closed as we begin the second half of Entry dragon is now beginning to inject cold nitrox into the air being delivered to the suits worn by Chell Bob Jessica and Samantha now again this is what will allow the crew to remain comfortable while external temperatures reach 3 500 degrees Fahrenheit now the heat shield is pointing forward leading the capsule to The Landing site and speaking of the heat shield dragon's primary heat shield is comprised of Pika 3.0 which stands for phenolic impregnated carbon ablator first generation Pika was first developed by NASA for studying and sampling comets within our solar system and SpaceX partnered with NASA to develop Pika X which was the second generation product used on all Dragon 1 CRS missions that successfully resupplied the space station on 20 missions then Pika 3.0 was developed specifically for use on Dragon 2 crew and cargo with enhanced structural and thermal properties that optimize the heat shield and drove down costs and Mass now the remainder of the Dragon capsule is comprised primarily of a SpaceX proprietary ablative material it's another class of thermal protection which is lighter weight versus Pica and protects the underlying composite material or structure during re-entry to ensure the structural capabilities are maintained and while Dragon will experience temperatures well over 3000 degrees Fahrenheit during Peak re-entry conditions the characteristics of the TPS or thermal Protection Systems coupled with the Equus environmental Cooling and life support system in the pressurized interior interior will help ensure that Chell Bob Jessica and Samantha stay cool and comfortable during All Phases of re-entry through Splashdown now after crew Dragon Freedom has re-entered the Earth's atmosphere a series of parachutes will deploy and that will slow the crew's descent first will be the two drogue shoots followed by the four main shoots to guide dragon to its first contact with Earth since launching in April earlier this year Dragon will automatically deploy these parachutes when different pressure and positioning sensors on the capsule detect that they are at the right speed and altitude vehicle velocity at drogue deploy is approximately 350 miles per hour as we mentioned earlier and those drogue parachutes do deploy at about 18 000 feet above the water now vehicle velocity at Main deploy is approximately 119 miles per hour and deploy at about 6 500 feet vehicle velocity at Water Splashdown is approximately 16 miles per hour and the highest G load the crew will experience during re-entry is approximately three to five G's so next up we are looking ahead towards the comms blackout that we discussed as the crew re-enters the atmosphere this is expected and can last a few minutes long but once the crew is on the other side of the comms blackout and we do regain Communications with them the drogue shoots will deploy we are tracking the that first set of uh drugs the first set of parachutes the drug shoots to deploy around 1 51 pm just a minute later the main shoots will deploy and then about three minutes after that the moment we've all been waiting for we'll see crew for splash down off the coast of Jacksonville Florida we are still tracking approximately 1 55 PM Pacific time today for that Splashdown and so at this time all of the recovery teams are in place those fast boats that we were talking about earlier have deployed and we really are getting ready to bring this crew home everything has proceeded as expected with the diorbit burn the nose cone is now deployed and the next big milestone that we're looking towards is that Communications blackout again we have an awesome live view inside of the Dragon capsule seeing our crew and again we've mentioned this that they use the displays to monitor the activities that are happening with dragon but dragon is flying autonomously so they really just get to sit back and just monitor foreign so we did mention that we are looking towards entering a period where we will have a Communications blackout with the crew that is because of the plasma that's building up because we're using the atmosphere itself to help slow us down we're going about 17 000 miles an hour and we do need to slow the crew down before they re-enter the Earth before they splash down and as they re-enter the Earth's atmosphere that will definitely happen they'll be going about 350 miles per hour once they enter the other side of the atmosphere and as we said they'll be going less than 20 miles per hour at the time of Splashdown [Applause] Freedom SpaceX for entry briefing Rachel I have no Deltas from the previously briefed tablet timeline Dragon systems are looking healthy and ready for entry and we have no updates for Splashdown the recovery team is ready to support and weather's looking good how copy can you copy all Arthur we're looking forward to splash down and and the recovery courses crew there chatting with the corps here in Mission Control Hawthorne that's what you're seeing there on your screen we did get to see a live view of the crew in their seats in the Dragon capsule as they're making their way back home the suit's primary function is to protect the crew in the event of a dabbing cabin depressurization and if that were to occur the suit would inflate to provide a habitable environment long enough for the crew to return home there you can see them there right now they are also filling their suits with some cool night rocks that actually helps keep them cool the suits are kind of an extension of the Dragon capsule it's almost like they have their own personal AC unit on them and the suits are flame resistant materials on the outer layer also protects the crew in the event of a fire they are custom tailored single piece suits this means that the helmet gloves and boots all remain attached together and the helmet that we were able to see on the screen that they're wearing is 3D printed nylon and does have a visor that pivots open and then they do have quick disconnects or qds on the right thigh which mates to an umbilical on the seats and that is what provides the air for ventilation oxygen nitrox for pressurization and allows the electronics to be connected all from a single location on the suit foreign again if you're just now joining us we are live watching crew 4 return home to planet Earth from the International Space Station we've had the deorbit burn we've jettisoned the trunk for the vehicle and the nose cone has closed on Dragon freedom and again another live view inside of the capsule there and SpaceX from Freedom tablets to secure restraints are tightened and our advisors are down we are ready for entry space has copies for tablets restraints and visors please confirm that tablets are stowed with the loops as provided on the satchels copy welcome so we are now less than 20 minutes away from Splashdown and again we are going to be entering that blackout communication period but once we are on the other side of that things will happen pretty quickly the drug shoots will deploy Freedom tablets are all secure SpaceX copies thank you freedom and at this time we're just over five minutes from predicted com blackout we will see you on the other side at 2049 okay cop from uh hello Watson let's see on the flip side 2049 and so you did hear those words from the ground up to a crew 4 namely Chell lingrin just ensuring that the tablets are stowed and secured in the proper positioning ahead of the communications blackout expected now less than five minutes from now and really in anticipation of re-entry and then splash down as we were saying the pace is really going to pick up once we are through that Communications blackout the drogue parachutes will deploy and then the main parachutes will deploy and then we will see the crew splash down after that we'll see the fast boats head out to the crew inspect it make sure everything is looking good and the Integrity of the vehicle is as it should be and those main parachutes will also be cut and then the recovery Personnel will work on securing the vehicle and bringing it into the recovery vessel and then after some private medical checks with the crew we should see the crew egress a short time after that so again we are expecting the Splashdown to occur at 155 Pacific time so just a few minutes from now and we are coming up on that Communications blackout that as that is as expected as well and this blackout period is basically when the vehicle is entering back into the Earth's atmosphere it is heating up and plasma is building around the capsule which prevents Communications with here in Mission Control lasts about six minutes it is nominal and once we get through that blackout period we do uh make sure that the crew can communicate with the ground here in Mission Control and we do have um the NASA plane the wb57 which is up in the air and it's equipped with some imaging technology that will be able to get pretty much the first views of the Dragon capsule on its return back to Earth so we are getting some of that footage right now um we are anticipating that Communications blackout and loss of signal here shortly this is really the beginning of that period where the crew themselves will be re-entering the Earth's atmosphere [Applause] and at this time the dragon is working through a slewing maneuver which means that the dragon is helping to orient itself in the proper orientation ahead of the re-entry of the Earth's atmosphere again we're just a couple of minutes away from that anticipated blackout period thank you we are just about a minute away from that Communications blackout period again it should last only about six minutes long and this is what happens when uh the vehicles begins to heat up as it's entering back into the Earth's atmosphere and builds up a layer of plasma around the vehicle again this is nominal and we will establish Communications once the vehicle is through that period so we are hearing that the dragon is beginning to hit the Earth's atmosphere here really at the upper limits of the atmosphere so that's going to help to slow the vehicle down quite a bit but we are now seconds away from the anticipated loss of signal standing by for confirmation that we are in the communications blackout let's see and as we await that confirmation you can see the crowd is starting to grow here in Hawthorne behind the mission control center here looks like folks are trying to get a good view as we anticipate splash down here and a little less than 15 minutes now we do get pretty excited when we are bringing crew back home it is pretty exciting to watch them as they touch back down on planet Earth they've been out in space for about six months now [Applause] again we are currently in the comms blackout period this is nominal lasts about six minutes uh we are just a few minutes away from passing through this blackout period foreign at this point we are entering a Communications blackout period which lasts approximately six minutes due to plasma formation around the spacecraft now during this time no vehicle Telemetry is received by Machine control or the recovery team and no external commanding of the vehicle or voice communication is possible now as a reminder dragon is designed to fly itself so during re-entry the vehicle will be slowing down from orbital velocity which is approximately 17 500 miles per hour now the top temperature Dragon will experience upon re-entry is about three 3500 degrees Fahrenheit and again the blackout period is expected to last about six maybe up to seven minutes long and we are just about four minutes remaining in this anticipated Communications blackout period and during this re-entry phase the team um the crew rather is going to be experiencing a deceleration and the team here on the ground is going to continue to monitor that make sure that everything is proceeding as expected but once we're on the other side of this Communications blackout that's when we'll begin to see the parachutes deploy beginning with the drogue parachutes and then following with the main parachutes and then we'll see Splashdown and then the recovery process to get the crew onto the recovery vessel and then out of the capsule we'll begin and we did mention the high temperatures that the vehicle is seeing during this blackout period so there is nitrox flowing through the suits that the astronauts are in and that helps keep them cool while the vehicle is getting very hot on the outside and so we are getting our very first views there from the wb57 of the capsule as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere those views coming from an infrared camera that is on board [Applause] and so the team will continue to track dragon as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere I now have about three minutes remaining in the blackout period but again the wb57 that is deployed is getting those views of dragon already once the expected blackout period is over the core here in Mission Control will attempt to establish Communications with the crew so you may hear some call outs checking in with the crew and they will make that call out until the crew does respond which will confirm acquisition of signal we have about two minutes remaining in the anticipated period of communications blackout now it's not an exact science there might be some variation that occurs we might hear from the crew a little earlier the than we expected or potentially a little bit later but we are all on the edge of our seats eagerly awaiting to hear from the crew so far everything looking good thank you [Music] [Applause] Dragon SpaceX contract thank you continuing to get those views from the wb57 of crew dragon as it continues to make its way closer and closer to Splashdown Freedom SpaceX contract yeah coming through 30 kilometers altitude copy and concur expect automated shoot deployment foreign expect nominal suit deployment altitude supplies well Jesse it is absolutely phenomenal to hear from the crew on the other side of that Communications blackout period We are continuing to get these great views from the wb-57 High Altitude aircraft providing that thermal imagery we did even see the tale of Entry of the vehicle and it's just absolutely beautiful to see that so we also heard a we did hear a call up to the crew that they are expecting the automated drogue deployment so we're just standing by for a confirmation that Dragon shoots have deployed again there will be a set Freedom SpaceX brace for drug window s for here communicating with the crew giving them a heads up that they should feel the drug shoots deploying here shortly followed by the main shoots just about a minute later the the drug shoots do help to slow the vehicle down to about 350 miles per hour whereas the main shoot will deploy after the main shoots deploy it will slow the vehicle down even more and by the time that the vehicle splashes down should be around 16 miles per hour [Applause] thank you and there's those drug shoots and you can hear the crowd here very excited to see them deploy drug shoot descent rate nominal and visual and two healthy drugs Freedom copies very cool view of dragon with the two drone shoots we are just anticipating the main shoots to deploy here shortly [Applause] [Music] [Applause] main shoot descent rate nominal visual on four healthy mains [Music] [Applause] and great news as you can see there the main shoots have deployed slowing the dragon vehicle down significantly down to approximately 119 miles per hour now dragon has saved all propulsion systems and is now terminating the nitrox suit and cabin purges and is beginning to increase copy 800 dragon is beginning to increase pressure in preparation for landing and Mission Control the mission control team here in Hawthorne is reporting the precise Landing coordinates to the recovery team so we did get that confirmation on the main shoots 600. the crew is now 600 meters away from splashing down we do expect to splash down in about two minutes from now landing and water is simpler therefore more reliable and it provides more margin against unlikely pairs copy four provides more margin against unlikely parachute issues we had to learn how to make dragon waterproof but once you do it is a rinse review and reuse type of process and we are just about a minute away from Splashdown of the Dragon vehicle back onto planet Earth and hearing good call outs of the altitude of dragons at 200 meters copy brace for Splashdown and again that descent rate is as expected here pretty soon we should be able to see the view of the ocean come into view as crew Dragon Freedom with four astronauts on board prepares to splash down after spending 170 days in space after launching on April 27th [Applause] incredible view of the crowd [Music] let's grab those wild for three to four countdown and Mains cut [Applause] well welcome home crew 4 great view watching Dragon splash down back on planet Earth now as you can see on your screen we have visual confirmation for Splashdown of the Dragon spacecraft Dragon Freedom has returned home in NASA astronauts chill Bob Jessica and yes Freedom we are water operating and Civil War copy Freedom we see stable one you are go for four decimal 800. and on behalf of SpaceX welcome home thanks for playing SpaceX and uh SpaceX uh from Freedom thank you for incredible right up to orbit and an incredible ride home glad to be back as you can see Dragon Freedom has returned home and NASA astronauts ciao Bob and Jessica and Esa astronaut Samantha are back on Earth after an approximately five hour return Journey from space these SpaceX recovery ship and team has been waiting for Dragon Splashdown and they will now make their way to the Splashdown locations and we did hear the call out that the vehicle is in stable one that's the configuration that we're hoping for stable one means it's in the ocean upright as expected and you can see that exactly on your screen here so the teams have been ready and waiting about three nautical miles away so it's going to take them about 30 minutes or so to make their way to Chow Bob Jessica and Samantha inside but about a minute and 30 seconds after the landing Mission Control Hawthorne will give the go for Final Approach and the safe approach and then about two minutes after landing the approach vote will begin those inspections that we discussed earlier that's just to ensure that everything is as expected with the vehicle let's dragon completely waiting for SpaceX copies Dragon for awareness com is a little bit choppy but we copy that you are complete with four decimal 800 and a waiting recovery Personnel I will provide an update on recovery forces in a couple minutes how copy standing by foreign Mission Control here in Hawthorne did give the go for that approach and Recovery foreign and so here shortly we should be able to get some views of the fast boats as they approach uh the dragon Freedom with the crew is still on board [Music] foreign SpaceX is go for Recovery Personnel to approach expect Personnel alongside within the next couple minutes oh and there you are getting a view of those fast boats as they approach the vehicle they will essentially be doing some safety checks making sure that all the ordinances and Hyper Galls are not present or in the area immediately around the vehicle and they'll also perform an inspection of the capsule itself to make sure that Integrity wise it is looking good you are seeing that very first fast boat approach the vehicle there and they really want to do these inspections to make sure that everything is looking good before they do hoist it up into the recovery vessel so it will take a little bit of time before we do see the crew egress or exit the capsule we're shooting for less than an hour to bring the dragon onto the recovery ship and open the hatch to egress once these checkouts are complete you'll see a member of the recovery team actually climb on board the capsule creative SpaceX for camera configuration [Music] we are looking for permission to come on board via the display camera view only work okay and freedom we are back on board with the display cam recovery Personnel are on alongside thank you and getting some waves from the crew onboard Freedom post Splashdown looks like they're doing pretty well first time feeling gravity and 170 days it looks like they're waving uh to the world technically the crew will remain in their seats all the way until they are brought on board the recovery vessel now we do expect to hear some words from NASA's Brandy Dean who is actually on the recovery ship and was able to witness the re-entry and splash down of crew Dragon Freedom Brandy if you're able to hear us can you tell us a little bit about what it was like to witness four humans return to Earth after their mission aboard the International Space Station hey Sandra it is a gorgeous day for a smackdowns um I hope for a little record they've been in the past but it's still it's important individual day um the parachutes were just throwing the sun behind them it was gorgeous and so we are now underway and making our way to work it's easier on the boat we're so excited there were two years we heard the um [Music] [Music] so it's been a really great day so far we're looking forward to seeing it through here on board that's wonderful to hear Brandi can you tell us a little bit about what the crew is doing and is done to prepare for this moment from your perspective as you've been on the recovery vessel yet another one we've got you Brandi here I'll repeat it Freedom SpaceX hyper girl sweeps and unfighter unfired ordinance checks nominal the rigging is in process progress approximately two five minutes until capsule lift standby for PMC with SpaceX flight surgeon okay Freedom copies all hyper gold checks are passed uh and we're about 25 minutes out for standing by from PNC so Brandi if you're still with us we did just hear that all of those hyper gold checks went as expected and we can see that the rigging has begun I'm sure you have a much better view of it yourself on the boat but can you tell us a little bit more about what the crew on the boat is doing to get ready for the next steps to bring the capsule onto the boat [Applause] all right and it sounds like we may have lost uh Brandi they are out at Sea so Communications can be a bit spotty we might be able to join back with her a bit later but you are seeing right now someone on the capsule they are doing what is called rigging you see that they're tossing um some different equipment up to them and that's to ensure that the vehicle is ready SpaceX I'll be privatizing driving the ground now the next call you hear will be from the SpaceX flight surgeon on the recovery vessel Freedom puppies and so those call outs about a private medical conference just to ensure that the crew is all feeling healthy and if there's anything that they may need medically wise once they do get on the boat uh that is of course privatized for medical um and person personal reasons but we are continuing to get really great views here of the rigging process as I was saying this individual is working to secure dragon and enable it to be lifted onto the recovery vessel here in just a short time from now foreign and so once this process is complete the next steps will be to hoist up dragon and place it onto the boat onto the platform and then that platform itself will be moved so that the crew can egress a short time after that and once the crew is on the boat and back inside of the capsule they will board helicopters that are on the boat to bring them back to Ellington Field which is near the Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas and then they will bring European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Christa Freddy back to Europe thanks foreign [Music] Freedom SpaceX PMC complete and dragon to ground is no longer privatized and it sounds like we do have Brandy back with us so Brandi if you can hear us can you tell us a little bit about what the crew on the vessel is doing to prepare for the capsule to be placed onto the boat we did see the the rigging that was taking place but I'm sure you have a much better view from your perspective so everyone here is really excited to be getting the crew back on board here's an extra minute um left around the time um I've been talking today and then the Napa in either uh joined up by tough for a few hours later so she's been um it's been getting the medical room ready it's still down and it's going to be really comfortable for the crew I think it's been just a little time there just as long as it takes for the crew to feel kind of look up to making the helicopter ride back to dry land so we'll do a few radical tests for sure don't get from an IV tickets that they lost you know while they were in space back into their bodies help them readjust their gravity a little better uh just to bring you a medical checkout plus during that sort of thing and then when they get back to Jacksonville that's when the fun really starts with the scientific fast food or things um a number of food including tests that will kind of focus a little bit more about Western sex when we are sending Crews to the moon and stars they'll do things like having them step up upstairs and see how they're able to handle that having been in space for several months and make sure they're doing well before they jump right into their recovery period of uh medical tests scientific test and a lot of exercise to get some reconditioned and use the life acts and gravity again um meanwhile Samantha will be going back to Europe I should be pretty much right away once they get back to Houston thank you so much Brandi for that insight and sharing your first hand experience of what it was like to witness splash down from the recovery vessel we really appreciate you taking the time to speak with us but we'll let you get back to it and enjoy your time out there and as recovery procedures continue as expected we did have a Splashdown that occurred at 1 55 PM Pacific time this afternoon and you do see a wonderful photo on the left hand of your screen of that Splashdown with the main parachutes all deployed really the moment that crew Dragon Freedom touched Earth again for the first time in 170 days foreign so we do see the recovery vessel continue to approach the crew Dragon Freedom vehicle [Music] you are seeing on your screen a live view inside of the Dragon capsule with our crew patiently waiting in their seats they will remain harnessed into their seats until uh the hatch is actually opened on the dragon vehicle and we did see the rigging process that was taking place a short time ago and now we're getting another view of it here that person on the capsule is is called the rigger and they are working to secure Dragon to rigging Hardware to safely lift it up and out of the water and that will be done using that A-frame which is the boxy frame that you see towards the back of the boat there we are getting some pretty great views with this being in the daytime we have splashed down in the night time where it's a little bit harder to see but today we've got some light and get to watch the process pretty clearly here looks like a really beautiful day out there in Jacksonville now I am hoping that we will have the chance to see the rigor jump off of the vehicle that's always one of my favorite parts we are now excitedly awaiting the recovery of our Dragon spacecraft with NASA astronauts chill Bob Jessica and Esa astronaut Samantha inside dragon has already autonomous autonomously completed several steps to Safe itself following Splashdown now for those of you just joining us the mission has gone smoothly so far Dragon successfully splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Jacksonville Florida at 1 55 PM Pacific time approximately five hours before Splashdown dragon autonomously undocked from the International Space Station and completed a series of departure burns the the jet the trunk was then jettisoned and the final burn the deorbit burn was completed to place dragon on a trajectory toward Jacksonville Florida Dragon successfully re-entered the Earth's atmosphere followed by a deployment of its parachutes to slow the spacecraft down to a gentle Splashdown and we saw that moments ago just a few minutes ago rather and we had a really gorgeous views of it so we're now following the final part of Chell Bob Jessica and Samantha's journey is dragon is going to be lifted out of the water and placed on the recovery boat upon detection of Landing Dragon autonomously releases the main shoots to prevent wind from pulling the spacecraft Dragon then automatically saves any pyrotechnics still present on the vehicle and may automatically perform additional minor system reconfigurations the astronauts remain seated and in their seats and in their suits as well at this point but the onboard air conditioning keeps temperatures in check inside of the spacecraft and the communication systems on board remain powered so that the crew can continue to communicate and we did see that motion of the A-frame as it was getting ready to lift the capsule up and out of the water now SpaceX does have two fast boats in the recovery Fleet which have moved to the Splashdown Point already they were followed by the main recovery vessel which is really getting ready to lift the vehicle now at this at this point so those two fast boats do have a very specific role the first is to the first approach is focused on immediate safety inspection of the capsule integrity and checking for any presence of hypergolic propellant Vapors ensuring that it is safe for the recovery vessel to approach the dragon spacecraft all of those checks performed well and once the spacecraft is cleared for full approach the team begins rigging the capsule for water recovery by the recovery ship that process is underway and just wrapped up and then the second boat is really responsible for a parachute recovery and serves as a redundant boat to the first we'll also see a team member on a jet ski helping to gather up the now detached parachutes and it looks like they may have already completed that process I'm not seeing them they might be just off the screen I took a little over 10 minutes for the recovery crew to complete their safety checks and once they did complete that the freedom SpaceX concert working is complete please brace for capsule lift foreign news all preparations for rigging have been completed with that confirmation of the comms there so we should see dragon start to lift out of the water here in just a few seconds and the recovery teams are now preparing to lower the vessel's hydraulic lift mechanism into the water to bring the spacecraft into the on Deck translation system known as the deck Dragon will remain in known as the nest and dragon will remain in this Nest during the crew extraction and then for the journey back into port so here momentarily we will see the capsule being lifted and set on The Nest it'll then be centered and oriented and then translated into the hanger underneath the helipad aboard the ship so that we can open up the hatch and once open a SpaceX medical doctor will be the first one to check in on Chell Bob Jessica and Samantha and see if they are ready for egress or getting out and you see that motion underway now as dragon is lifted into the nest is a very cool View and cool process as we lift the dragon vehicle and you can see the nest there that it's going to be sat down into [Applause] all dragon's top hatch is used to connect the connect to these space station the astronauts will egress from the dragon's side hatch uh pending capsule orientation in the water now before opening the hatch the spacecraft's cabin pressure must be equalized with the outside environment once the hatch is opened that will be the crew's first breath of fresh air since boarding Dragon at the start of their mission back in April [Applause] so it is important to note that Chell Bob Jessica and Samantha will be getting some assistance from the recovery team while they are exiting the capsule this is the same process for any returning long duration crew members as returning to a gravity environment can wreck havoc with our vestibular system responsible for maintaining balance and motion and of course safety is always our number one priority so you'll see Chell Bob Jessica and Samantha helped out of the capsule and assisted the few feet to the medical quarters aboard the boat and if you've ever watched Cruise return on a soyuz mission this is the same process as when astronauts are carried from the capsule to waiting chairs and then carried to a waiting medical tent so it looks like we are getting views now of dragon in the nest successfully lifted up out of the water and so once the crew egresses the capsule this is a period where any time critical cargo can also be recovered from the spacecraft with the remainder waiting Freedom SpaceX welcome aboard the recovery vessel recovery Personnel are going to be completing final checks and stay standby for translation to the egress platform Freedom copies great news Bears Dragon sits in the nest there and you did hear some comms what they're going to do is once they de-rig this they will slide the dragon vehicle to a platform where the astronauts can easily exit that side hatch there okay and for those of you that might be just joining us we did have crew for successfully undock from the International Space Station just about five hours ago and they splashed down at 1 55 PM Pacific time all went as expected through the deorbit burn and the parachutes deployed as expected the capsule is now lifted onto the boat and we are standing by for the translation to occur and once that translation moves the Dragon capsule up underneath the helicopter pad the recovery team will then be able to work on opening up the hatch and removing the crew from the capsule wow crew 4 did splash down just about 30 minutes ago and is now already on the recovery vessel the recovery vessel being used today is named Megan after Crew 2 astronaut Megan McArthur so we are standing by for that translation maneuver to occur you'd see on the recovery vessel the platform that they will translate the dragon vehicle to if you saw the view earlier the hatch is slightly above ground level so that platform will allow the crew to exit the vehicle again if you are just now joining us the crew 4 crew is now back on planet Earth they are still inside of their seats and Suits inside of that Dragon capsule that you see there on your screen and so after this translation maneuver occurs the next steps will be for the folks on the recovery vessel that are specialized in opening up that side hatch that will begin that process now we have mentioned that we do have medical doctors on board that will help take care of the crew after the hatch opening and will conduct a series of initial checks before they are flown by a helicopter back to shore the recovery vessel as you can imagine takes quite a bit of time to get out into the Splashdown zone so the crew is flown um off of the vehicle on helicopters and then take aircraft and flight um Back Home to Houston for our three NASA astronauts on board and then for our ESA astronaut on board Samantha Christopher ready she'll head back to Europe and the crew has been out in space on the International Space Station for about six months they do get to work out while they're out on the space station working out in microgravity but that is why the medical team is there to make sure that they are safe and healthy make sure that they are able to adjust to gravity it's probably a pretty big adjustment being gone from Gravity for such a long period of time so the medical team will be there to make sure that they can exit the vehicle safely and then we'll do some uh private medical checks with each of the individuals and I'm loving these views here of the recovery vessel we don't often get to see this because sometimes uh it is night time uh depending on uh when undocking and Splashdown does happen for the crew members so this is a pretty nice treat to get to see this great View and you can see the helicopter pad on top of the recover vessel there that Sandra was mentioning there will be a helicopter that comes and lands there shortly once the crew is or has egressed the dragon vehicle and is ready to fly back to land and then take a another flight on a plane to Houston with Samantha taking a flight back to Europe and it looks like we are seeing that translation maneuver underway and coming up next once this translation maneuver is complete crew on board will begin to open up that side hatch foreign and as you can see from this view inside crew Dragon freedom it looks like the crew does have their visors it's kind of hard to tell from this angle if they're up or down but when they egress from the capsule we do expect those visors to be up it'll be their first breath of fresh air in 170 days since they launched back in April thank you and we were seeing some views of the Personnel on the recovery vessel who are specialized in opening up that hatch begin to get everything ready to begin that process so we do expect hatch opening to come just a short time from now and once that hatch is open we'll see the foot rests actually be removed before the crew egresses and that's really just to help make egressing a little bit easier and now a great view on the left of the crew that's still inside freedom but not for long and on the right hand side is the recovery vessel you can see the crew Dragon Freedom tucked underneath the helicopter pad there after that translation maneuver which occurred just a couple of minutes ago sure also too prior to hatch opening the pressure inside of the cabin must be equalized with the outside environment so that is also happening at this moment up and Freedom SpaceX side hatch open and the side hatch is open these recovery Personnel are the first people the crew has seen on Earth since their launch day and that those folks they saw on that day were the the closeout crew who closed the hatch um back in April I believe that is the flight surgeon there briefing the crew welcoming the crew as well as briefing them for the next steps from the operation foreign now that the side hatch is open the recovery Personnel are going to work to remove those foot rests and then after that we should see the crew begin to egress the capsule good morning there I believe they are removing those foot rests it looks like they grabbed all four of them thank you some Smiles thumbs up looks like they're feeling pretty pretty good so we are standing by for the egress of crew 4 they will exit the capsule one at a time and also getting a nice welcome home photo in and as the crew exits you might be able to see a stretcher in the view that is perfectly normal and expected it's part of the nominal procedure as we mentioned the crew will be taken to medical facilities so this is really just all part of the standard procedure that we do for any crew return yes again they have been out in space in microgravity for about six months so they may need some assistance adjusting back to gravity here back on Earth so I did hear that there's a special guest on board I'm looking to welcome crew for back to Earth in fact it's the namesake for the vessel that they are on uh NASA astronaut Megan MacArthur there in your screen with the with on the left of your screen in the Hat you can have a view of her here on the left of your screen here she's I'm sure looking forward to welcoming the crew back to Earth that's really awesome to have her on board especially the vessel that they named uh that we named uh after her absolutely so it looks like they're continuing to remove those foot rests ahead of egress [Music] foreign you can see there is a crew member there helping to remove the harness the umbilicals and make sure that the crew is ready to get out of their seat and exit or egress the dragon vehicle and once the crew does egress they'll take part in those medical checks and then after that they will board helicopters where they will fly back to shore at which point they will board a plane and fly back to the Ellington airport just outside of the Johnson Space Center in Houston and then for our Issa or European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Christopher ready she'll head back to to Europe and so from this view over the shoulder of the crew kind of looking behind the crew from left to right we can't see her right now but on the farthest left is European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Christopher ready and then in the view on the left of your screen is the commander of crew Dragon Freedom NASA astronaut chel lingrin to his right which we can see on our screen is NASA astronaut Bob Heinz and then to his right again we can't see her just yet but we will in a moment here once they egress is NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins now this was the first flight for Bob Hines and Jessica wattner Watkins both Samantha and Chell had flown previously thank you I also believe you mentioned a pretty cool fun fact about Samantha being having one of the longest amount of time out in space correct yeah that's right so Samantha christopheretti now is second in the running for longest space flight by any woman she has totaled 369 days in Space over her two flights and she is second only to now retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson foreign exit their seat is pilot Bob Hines and so again you do see that stretcher to the left of the screen there that is all part of our standard procedures looks like we're getting some claps and cheers for Bob Hines first out of crew Dragon freedom and a high five to Megan McArthur thank you and so as we just saw Bob Hines was the very first to exit or egress the capsule he spent a total of 170 days in space this was his very first space flight and it looks like next up we will have the commander Chell lingrin who will exit the capsule foreign this is his second space flight he's logged a total of 311 days in space [Music] foreign is now outside of crew Dragon freedom some great smiles and waves there a big high five to NASA astronaut Megan McArthur recovery Personnel now working to get Jessica Watkins ready to egress online Department so just five hours ago this vehicle was docked to the International Space Station and now we have two of the four crew members having been removed after a successful Splashdown we are standing by for another first time flyer Jessica Watkins as she is egressed from the capsule and there she is NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins standing up for the first time in about six months and the final crew member that will be removed is European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Christopher ready who after this Mission has logged 369 days in Space over her two flights which again that does make her the second on the all-time list for most days in Space by a woman and that is second to NASA's Peggy Whitson who lost 665 days in Space over her three space flights I don't know foreign [Music] there is Issa astronaut Samantha Christopher Eddie now egress from the dragon vehicle the final crew member of crew four to exit the vehicle well now that Chell lingrin Bob Heinz Jessica Watkins and Samantha Christopher ready are safely back home on Earth and getting checked out by the NASA medical team we're going to wrap up our live coverage of the return this all kicked off on April 27th from historic launch pad 39a at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida after a successful liftoff and separation from Falcon 9 Chell Bob Jessica and Samantha made a 16-hour flight on board dragon to the International Space Station since arriving at the space station they spent nearly six months as members of expedition 67 and 68 executing science experiments spacewalks and repairs all aboard the orbiting laboratory and their journey home began earlier today October 14th when they closed the hats to dragon and undock from the International Space Station at 9 05 a.m Pacific time after four successful departure Burns and a phasing burn to line up their orbit tell Bob Jessica and Samantha rested for a few hours before waking up to prepare for re-entry this morning we jettisoned dragons trunk and performed our final on-orbit maneuver the deorbit burn at 101 pm GMT or Pacific time to send dragon on the path home the spacecraft re-entered the Earth's atmosphere and slowed its descent with successful deployments of two drug parachutes and four Mains with the final Splashdown occurring off the coast of Florida at 1 55 p.m Pacific time now following that successful Splashdown we saw SpaceX recovery experts move in and prepare dragon freedom for its lift onto the recovery vessel and just a little less than an hour ago falling Splashdown we saw Chell Bob Jessica and Samantha make their way out of dragon into the recovery ship's medical facilities safe and sound and next up they'll catch a helicopter flight back to shore where they'll transfer to aircraft that will take them home chill Bob and Jessica and Samantha will take a NASA plane for the short flight back to Houston and Samantha will board a plane back to Europe after that they'll be reunited with their families to bring an end to this successful Mission it's been an honor and a privilege to share their Journey with all of you as we continue this new era in human space flight our return today marks the end of the direct Handover we just executed after successfully launching the crew 5 Mission to the space station just a little over a week ago it has been an incredible honor and joy to share this Mission with the public all the teams from SpaceX and NASA continue to work hard to keep America leading the world in human space flight continue to follow SpaceX and NASA online and on social media for updates for the very latest on crew and cargo flights to and from the International Space Station and we'll continue to share the progress of Chell Bob Jessica and Samantha on social media as they travel back home now we also do have a post Splashdown media telecon coming up at approximately 3 30 p.m Pacific Time 6 30 p.m Eastern where leadership from NASA Issa and SpaceX will share a final update as we conclude this successful Mission so we'll say thanks one more time for tuning in and cheering on Chell Bob Jessica and Samantha as they made their return back to planet Earth from all of us at Nasa and SpaceX and Issa welcome home crew 4 so long [Music]

Channel: SpaceX

Views: 435,954

Keywords: SpaceX, Space, Mission, NASA, Astronauts, International Space Station, ESA, Human Spaceflight, Crew-4

Id: r-two1PlsUY

Length: 126min 25sec (7585 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 14 2022