NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 Closes Dragon Hatch, Preps for Departure
At 9:20 a.m. EDT, the hatch closed between the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and the International Space Station, marking the start of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 return operations. The post NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 Closes Dragon Hatch, Preps for Departure appeared first on NASA Science .
NASA's Crew-12 members, comprising NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, along with ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, are preparing to bid farewell to the International Space Station. A formal portrait session took place at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, marking an important moment for the crew.
The hatch between the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and the ISS will be sealed at around 6:20 a.m. EDT. The spacecraft is set to autonomously undock from the station at 8:05 a.m., initiating a roughly 27-hour journey back to Earth. NASA will broadcast the undocking process starting at 7:45 a.m. EDT. The crew's return is targeted for splashdown off the coast of California at approximately 11:34 a.m. on Thursday, October 8.
The deorbit burn, entry, and splashdown will be covered by NASA from 10:20 a.m. EDT. Crew-12 launched on February 13 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, marking Meir and Fedyaev's second mission together, while Hathaway and Adenot are making their debut.
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