NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 Departure From Space Station Delayed

The SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour with four Crew-6 members aboard approaches the International Space Station for an automated docking to the Harmony module’s space-facing port on March 3, 2023. Aboard Endeavour, were Commander Stephen Bowen and Pilot Woody Hoburg, both from NASA, and Mission Specialists Sultan Alneyadi from UAE (United Arab Emirates) and Andrey Fedyaev from Roscosmos, who joined the Expedition 68 crew shortly after docking to the orbital lab. Credit: NASA

NASA and SpaceX are standing down from the Saturday, September 2, departure opportunities for the agency’s Crew-6 mission from the International Space Station (ISS) due to unfavorable weather conditions near the splashdown sites off the coast of Florida.

NASA and SpaceX met Friday evening to continue close evaluations of weather conditions around Florida’s coastline as they consider the best options for Crew-6 to return to Earth. Teams are working toward an undocking opportunity of no earlier than 7:05 a.m. EDT on Sunday, September 3, with the first potential splashdown opportunity no earlier than 12:07 a.m. on Monday, September 4.

Teams are proceeding to the next weather briefing scheduled for Saturday morning to continue assessing the weather for the primary target. Additional undock and splashdown opportunities are available early next week if weather conditions continue to be unfavorable over the weekend.

Four Expedition 69 flight engineers aboard the International Space Station pose for a portrait in their pressure suits. Clockwise from bottom, are NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen; UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi; NASA astronaut Woody Hoburg; and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. Credit: NASA

The Dragon spacecraft, named Endeavour, remains healthy while currently docked to the International Space Station. Dragon has been cleared for departure and re-entry by the space station and Dragon mission management teams. Pre-departure checkouts of the spacecraft were conducted Friday with normal performance across all systems. Operations teams are not working on any major issues and there are currently no constraints to flight.

Crew-6’s Dragon undocking depends on a variety of factors, including spacecraft readiness, recovery team readiness, weather, sea states, and other factors.

NASA will provide more information about live coverage of the upcoming return activities for the Crew-6 mission with NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg, as well as UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.

NASA TV coverage for the September 3 undocking and September 4 splashdown opportunity, if it is chosen, will be:

Sunday, September 3 (All times Eastern and subject to change depending on operations)

5 a.m. – Hatch closure coverage; ending shortly after hatch closure

6:45 a.m. – Coverage resumes for undocking, ending after Dragon departs Approach Ellipsoid

(Coverage shifts to Mission Audio commentary after approach ellipsoid exit)

7:05 a.m. – Undocking

11 p.m. – Coverage resumes for deorbit burn and splashdown

11:15 p.m. – Deorbit burn

Monday, September 4

12:07 a.m. – Splashdown