Japan astronaut Noguchi, others depart ISS in SpaceX capsule
A U.S. SpaceX ship carrying four astronauts including Japan s Soichi Noguchi on Saturday departed the International Space Station bound for Earth following the group s six-month mission in orbit.
The Crew Dragon capsule is scheduled to splash down off the coast of Florida about 3 a.m. Sunday, the first time a manned U.S. craft will reach Earth under darkness since the Apollo 8 mission returned from the moon in 1968.
Soichi Noguchi (R) waves while shaking hands with countryman Akihiko Hoshide before boarding the SpaceX Crew Dragon to depart the International Space Station. (Photo courtesy of JAXA)(Kyodo)
Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi and NASA crew depart ISS after six-month mission Sorry, but your browser needs Javascript to use this site. If you re not sure how to activate it, please refer to this site: https://www.enable-javascript.com/
Soichi Noguchi (right) waves alongside Akihiko Hoshide inside the International Space Station on Saturday before going aboard a SpaceX ship to return to the Earth after six months in orbit. | JAXA / VIA KYODO
Kyodo May 2, 2021
Washington – A SpaceX ship carrying four astronauts including Japan s Soichi Noguchi on Saturday departed the International Space Station, bound for Earth following the group s six-month mission in orbit.
SpaceX returns four astronauts from International Space Station Capsule withstands temperatures of 1,927 degrees on entry to Earth’s atmosphere
Sun, May 2, 2021, 15:45
Support teams work around the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft shortly after it landed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Panama City, Florida on May 2nd, 2021. Photograph: Bill Ingalls/ AFP via Getty Images
Elon Musk’s SpaceX returned four astronauts to Earth to conclude its first regular crew mission to the International Space Station, cementing its status as Nasa’s only commercial partner so far capable of carrying people.
The company’s Dragon capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico west of Florida just before 3am local time on Sunday, according to video streamed by Nasa/SpaceX. A SpaceX vessel was to collect the capsule carrying astronauts Michael Hopkins, Shannon Walker, Victor Glover and Soichi Noguchi and return them to shore for medical checks.
SpaceX Will Build Radar Wind Models for NASA, Mars Rocket Tests May 1, 2021 13:48 EDT
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) plans to generate radar-based wind models for its test facility in Boca Chica, Texas. This reveal comes courtesy of a filing SpaceX made with the Federal Communications Commission s (FCC) Office of Experimental Technologies (OET) last week. The filing outlines the company s plans to Generate historical wind models at the Boca Chica Range, using a third-party manufacturer s tropospheric radar wind profiler. SpaceX is testing its next-generation launch vehicle (rocket) platform dubbed Starship in Texas. Through Starship, the company hopes to take NASA astronauts to the Moon and conduct interplanetary missions to Mars.