NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 Astronauts Returning to Earth – Watch It Live

The SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour is pictured during its approach to the International Space Station less than one day after launching from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts, Commander Shane Kimbrough and Pilot Megan McArthur with Mission Specialists Akihiko Hoshide and Thomas Pesquet, would join the Expedition 65 crew shortly after docking Harmony module’s forward-facing international docking adapter. Credit: NASA

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission now is targeting a return to Earth no earlier than 7:14 a.m. EST Monday, November 8, with a splashdown off the coast of Florida. The Crew Dragon spacecraft, named Endeavour, is scheduled to undock from the International Space Station at 1:05 p.m. Sunday, November 7, to begin the journey home.

NASA will preview the mission on Saturday, November 6, and provide coverage Sunday of the mission on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.

NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Aki Hoshide, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet will complete 199 days in space at the conclusion of their mission. The spacecraft also will return to Earth with about 530 pounds of hardware and scientific investigations.

Endeavour will undock autonomously and perform a fly around maneuver to photograph the exterior of the International Space Station. Once the maneuver is completed, the Crew Dragon spacecraft will aim for a splashdown at one of seven targeted landing zones in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida.

NASA SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts Akihiko Hoshide of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), left, Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency), and Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough of NASA participate in the Space Olympics onboard the International Space Station. Credit: ESA/NASA–T. Pesquet

NASA and SpaceX also have a backup undocking and splashdown opportunity available Monday, November 8, if weather conditions are not favorable for the primary opportunity.

The NASA and SpaceX teams will determine a primary and alternate splashdown location from the seven possible landing locations prior to return, factoring in weather, crew rescue, and recovery operations. Additional decision milestones take place prior to undocking, during free flight, and before Crew Dragon performs the deorbit burn.

NASA and SpaceX closely coordinate with the U.S. Coast Guard to establish a safety zone around the expected splashdown location to ensure safety for the public and for those involved in the recovery operations, as well as the crew aboard the returning spacecraft.

With Crew-2 splashdown Monday, November 8, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 mission is targeting launch no earlier than 9:03 p.m. Wednesday, November 10, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. For this launch opportunity, the Crew Dragon Endurance is scheduled to dock to the space station around 7:10 p.m. Thursday, November 11.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 return coverage is as follows:

Saturday, November 6

1:35 p.m. EDT– Change of command ceremony

5:30 p.m. EDT- Crew-2 return preview briefing media teleconference with the following participants:

• Ven Feng, deputy manager, Commercial Crew Program, NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston
• Joel Montalbano, manager, International Space Station, NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston
• Sarah Walker, director, Dragon Mission Management, SpaceX
• JAXA Representative
• ESA Representative

Sunday, November 7

10:45 a.m. EST– Coverage begins for 11:10 a.m. hatch closure

12:45 p.m. EST– Coverage begins for 1:05 p.m. undocking (NASA will provide continuous coverage from undocking to splashdown)

Monday, November 8

7:14 a.m. EST– Splashdown

Crew-2 is the second of six NASA and SpaceX crewed missions to fly as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, which is working with the U.S. aerospace industry to launch astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from American soil.

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program has delivered on its goal of safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station from the U.S. through a partnership with American private industry. This partnership is changing the arc of human spaceflight history by opening access to low-Earth orbit and the International Space Station to more people, more science, and more commercial opportunities. The space station remains the springboard to NASA’s next great leap in space exploration, including future missions to the Moon and, eventually, to Mars.