Crew-4 mission returns from space after six months on the International Space Station

Miami, Oct. 14 (EFE). NASA’s Crew-4 mission arrived in the Atlantic waters off the coast of Florida on Friday with its four-member crew aboard after spending nearly six months on the International Space Station (ISS), where they carried out several experiments.

The splashing occurred without difficulty at 4:55 p.m. local time today (20:55 GMT), near the city of Jacksonville, off the northeastern coast of Florida.

Commander Kjell Lindgren and NASA colleagues Jessica Watkins and Bob Hines and Italian Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency (ESA) arrived aboard the ship.

The capsule, with the help of four parachutes, fell into the sea exactly at the appointed time.

Five minutes later, two small boats met the astronauts with red and yellow balloons tied to the boats.

From the capsule compartment, two astronauts confirmed they were fine by raising their thumbs.

“Dragon landing confirmed: Welcome back to Earth,” SpaceX immediately wrote on Twitter.

The Dragon Freedom capsule, built by private space company SpaceX, was pulled from the International Space Station on Friday after its return was postponed twice due to weather reasons.

Dragon Freedom’s independent separation occurred while the International Space Station was orbiting 263 miles (423 km) over the Atlantic Ocean.

The International Space Station is traveling at 17,500 mph (28,163 km/h) and at that speed it orbits the Earth every 90 minutes, meaning that the mission members watched the sun rise and set every 45 minutes during the 170 days it lasted. your task.

The Crew-4 mission arrived at the International Space Station on April 27 to begin a six-month scientific mission, during which they carried out, among other things, experiments to study the aging-like changes produced by microgravity in human immune cells and the possible way. to reverse it.

Likewise, he experimented with a concrete alternative made from materials found in Moon and Martian dust, from which future space bases would eventually be built and would provide for long-distance missions.

Last week they received their replacement, members of Crew-5, the fifth manned mission between NASA and SpaceX, billionaire Elon Musk’s company, as part of the space agency’s Commercial Crew program in which Boeing is also participating.

SpaceX has been sending astronauts to the International Space Station and back to Earth for NASA since 2020.

According to the private company, the Dragon spacecraft is capable of carrying up to 7 passengers to and from Earth’s orbit “and beyond”.

It is the only spacecraft currently in operation capable of “returning large quantities of cargo” to Earth, and the first special vehicle to transport humans to the International Space Station. EFE

jip / arm / cpy

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