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Derek Richardson
March twelfth, 2023
Three astronauts and a cosmonaut returned to Earth of their Crew Dragon spacecraft after spending over 5 months in orbit aboard the Worldwide House Station.
NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina splashed down off the coast of Tampa, Florida, at 9:02 p.m. EST March 11 (02:02 UTC March 12), 2023, concluding the 157-day Crew-5 mission.
“That was one heck of a journey!” Mann mentioned following splashdown. “We’re glad to be residence. Wanting ahead to subsequent time.”
In line with NASA, the crew circled the Earth some 2,512 occasions aboard the ISS, touring greater than 66 million miles.
“Welcome residence, Crew-5!” mentioned NASA Administrator Invoice Nelson. “This worldwide crew has been conducting important science experiments and expertise demonstrations on the Worldwide House Station that can assist put together us for future deep area missions and pave the way in which for our return to the Moon. Every development these explorers make isn’t an achievement for one, however a large leap for all of humanity.”
Crew-5 launched Oct. 5, 2022, atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Advanced 39A at NASA’s Kennedy House Middle in Florida. This was the second flight for the spacecraft used, Crew Dragon Endurance. They docked to the Worldwide House Station lower than a day later to start their keep aboard the outpost as a part of Expedition 68.
This was the primary flight for Mann, Cassada and Kikina. For Wakata, nevertheless, this was his fifth spaceflight over his 31-year profession as an astronaut. He has amassed a complete of 505 days in area — essentially the most for a Japanese astronaut.
Changed by the Crew-6 mission
The Crew-5 quartet had been changed by the Crew-6 mission, which launched March 3 with NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg, Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.
After they reached the area station a day later, the outpost’s inhabitants grew to 11 folks. The opposite three aboard had been Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin, in addition to NASA Frank Rubio, who launched to area final September aboard a Soyuz spacecraft.
Crew-6 is slated to return to Earth six months from now in late summer season. Prokopyev, Petelin and Rubio are at the moment scheduled to return to Earth in a Soyuz spacecraft in September, after spending roughly a yr in orbit.
Crew-5 splashdown. Video courtesy of NASA
Derek Richardson
Derek Richardson has a level in mass media, with an emphasis in modern journalism, from Washburn College in Topeka, Kansas. Whereas at Washburn, he was the managing editor of the scholar run newspaper, the Washburn Overview. He additionally has a web site about human spaceflight referred to as Orbital Velocity.
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