March 29, 2024
SpaceX Crew-5: How to watch the astronauts return to Earth

SpaceX Crew-5: How to watch the astronauts return to Earth

The return to Earth of SpaceX’s Crew-5 mission begins Saturday, March 11, with the astronauts leaving the International Space Station. NASA will provide coverage for the return, starting with undocking, which happens at 2:00 AM (Brasilia time) this Saturday.

according to NASAthe SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to lift off at 4:05 am (Brasilia time) to begin the journey back to Earth.

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This return will be broadcast live on NASA TV, which can be followed on the official YouTube of the US space agency. You can catch the whole thing through the player below, on the official NASA telecast:

NASA and SpaceX are targeting 11:19 p.m. ET Saturday for the landing that will end nearly six months of a science mission for NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Nicole Mann, JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata, and NASA Roscosmos astronaut Anna Kikina.

Upon completion of the season’s coverage, NASA’s coverage of Crew-5’s return will continue in audio only, and full coverage will end at the beginning of the landing broadcast. Real-time audio between Crew-5 and flight controllers on the NASA mission audio broadcast will continue to be available and include conversations with astronauts aboard the space station and a live video feed from the orbiting laboratory.

The Dragon spacecraft, which the astronauts named SpaceX Crew-3 on its maiden voyage, will lift off autonomously from the space station and land Saturday at one of seven landing zones in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida.

NASA has released a calendar covering the return of SpaceX Crew-5, in the ET time zone, which we’ve converted to Brasilia time below:

Saturday, March 11:

  • 2:00 a.m.: Coverage of NASA TV’s slot closing begins
  • 2:15 a.m.: Hatch closes
  • 3:45 a.m.: NASA TV coverage resumes
  • 4:05 a.m.: The SpaceX Crew-5 mission lifts off the International Space Station
  • 10:15 p.m.: NASA television coverage of the landing begins
  • 10:25 p.m.: Burning of the pilgrims’ remover
  • 11:19 p.m.: Landing off the coast of Florida

Sunday, March 12:

  • 1 a.m.: Return to Earth briefing from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston with:
    • Steve Stitch, Commercial Crew Program Manager, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida
    • Joel Montalbano, International Space Station Administrator, NASA Johnson
    • Sarah Walker, Director of Dragon Mission Management, SpaceX
    • Hiroshi Sasaki, Vice President, JAXA

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