NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2: Teams Targeting Gulf of Mexico for Splashdown
Marie Lewis, NASA • August 1, 2020
SpaceX Capsule Splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico south of Gulf Shores
Watch live coverage of the SpaceX splashdown below...
SpaceX Crew Dragon DM-2 Splashdown coverage continues with splashdown scheduled at 1:48 p.m. CDT.
(OBA®) - UPDATE on August 2, 2020 at 7:55 am - At 12:36 pm there will be a communications blackout for about 6 minutes as the SpaceX capsule re-enters earth's atmosphere. At 12:42 pm communications will return.
The Trunk Separation will take place at 12:51 pm. The deorbit burn will last 11.5 minutes. On re-entry the outside of the capsule will reach temperatures in excess of 3,500 degrees. The inside the capsule will be 85°.
Parachutes will deploy at 1:45pm. The time of splashdown is now scheduled for 1:48 pm CDT.
At splashdown the capsule will be moving at 15 mph.
We have asked NASA if we'll be able to see the splashdown from the beach. NASA answered on their live feed... They said we should be able to see the orange and white parachutes, but they aren't sure.
Gulf of Mexico off of Pensacola and Orange Beach is primary target site for splashdown on Sunday.
(OBA®) - Following a scheduled assessment of weather conditions for splashdown, teams from NASA and SpaceX are proceeding with preparations to bring NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley home to Earth aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon “Endeavour” spacecraft.
Conditions are “Go” at the primary targeted site, off the coast Pensacola, and alternate site off the coast of Panama City in the Gulf of Mexico for splashdown and recovery on Sunday, Aug. 2. Teams will continue to closely monitor Hurricane Isaias and evaluate impacts to the potential splashdown sites.
SpaceX will monitor changes to conditions until 2.5 hours prior to the scheduled undocking, when a determination to proceed with departure will be made. If conditions are marginal and exceed the accepted criteria, a joint recommendation by SpaceX and NASA will be made whether to proceed with undocking at 7:34 p.m. EDT. NASA and SpaceX will make the final decision to proceed after the astronauts are ready inside Crew Dragon just before undocking.
Live coverage of NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 return will begin at 5:15 p.m. and continue through the targeted splashdown at 2:41 p.m. EDT on Sunday, the first return of a commercially built and operated American spacecraft carrying astronauts from the space station. It will wrap up NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 test flight after more than two months at the International Space Station.
Hurley and Behnken arrived at the orbiting laboratory in the Crew Dragon May 31 following a launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 30. This is SpaceX’s final test flight and is providing data on the performance of the Falcon 9 rocket, Crew Dragon spacecraft and ground systems, as well as in-orbit, docking, splashdown, and recovery operations.
More details about the return can be found in the Top 10 Things to Know for NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 Return.
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