Nuked This afternoon, NASA astronauts Bob behnken and Doug Hurley will start their journey back to earth inside SpaceX’s new crew Dragon. If all goes to plan, the two will splash down in the crew dragon off the western coast of Florida on Sunday afternoon.
behnken and Hurley undock from the space station. They’ll spend the next 18 hours in orbit before making the dive into earth’s atmosphere. The crew dragon experiences extreme temperatures reaching up to 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit and slows down from 17,500 miles per hour.
Hooks holding the crew dragon in place at the station will retract, releasing the capsule into space. Right after that, thrusters on the dragon will do two quick burns in order to separate out further from the ISS.
Nasa and SpaceX are targeting a splashdown off the coast of Pensacola. The location is one of seven potential sites around Florida where the crew dragon could land. Tropical Storm isaias is projected to skim Eastern Florida this weekend.
The capsule’s trunk is a cylindrical piece of hardware attached to the back end of the capsule, providing support during launch. It also houses all of the solar panels that generate power for the crew dragon during flight. When it comes time to land, SpaceX does n’t need the trunk anymore, so it separates and falls into earth’s atmosphere, where it burns up.
The crew Dragon will burn its thrusters again, taking the capsule out of orbit and setting it on course for earth. The amount of heated plasma around the capsule is so intense that it actually triggers a communications blackout that will last up to six minutes.
At an altitude of around 18,000 feet, two drogue parachutes will deploy from the capsule when it’s moving at around 350 miles per hour. When the capsule reaches an altitude, four big red and white parachutes will deployed to keep braking the vehicle.
Two SpaceX boats will hoist the capsule out of the ocean, retrieve the parachutes, and then get them out into the fresh air. They will then be airlifted to shore, thanks to a helipad on one of the recovery vessels. The helicopter will take them to a plane that will transport them back to Houston.
