SpaceX Crew Dragon to Land on Sunday in Gulf of Mexico (02AUG20)

[WesL]

Heads up @Jack Watkins - looks like Tropical Storm Isaias is going to push NASA/SpaceX to one of the Gulf Coast landing areas this weekend to bring Crew Dragon home with Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken.

SpaceX Crew Dragon astronauts prep for splashdown Sunday, weather permitting

The Crew Dragon capsule carrying two NASA astronauts is headed for the agency's first ocean splashdown in 45 years.

www.cbsnews.com

Keeping tabs on a tropical storm, NASA is pressing ahead with plans to bring two astronauts and their SpaceX ferry ship back to Earth Sunday with a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. It will be the first piloted re-entry of a Crew Dragon spacecraft and NASA's first ocean landing in 45 years.
"The return flight readiness review is complete and the NASA team and the SpaceX team, everybody remains 'go' for return," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told reporters Wednesday. "We cannot wait to get Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley back to Earth.
"But of course, we have some weather pending. Just like when we launched, we had some challenges with weather, we may have that again. But the first opportunity remains August 2, and we look forward to seeing if that's going to be within the realm of what is possible."

 

[WesL]

Still a go at this point

 

[gangstonc]

Will we be able to see anything in the sky in north Alabama?

 

[WesL]

Afraid not. They are going to be coming from over the southeastern gulf to minimize the exposure to land.

 

[WesL]

Bob and Dog are suited up, Go Navigator is on station of the coast of Pensacola. Looking forward to watching splashdown.

 

[ghost]

Perfect re-entry and splashdown in the GOM!

 

[WesL]

Beautiful landing!! Now let's talk about all those extra boats in the recovery zone. Really? Betting that next time they land they involve the Coast Guard to secure the area. Really sad people can't keep the proper distance and let these crews do their job. To be specific, the boats are in the area of the parachute recovery, capsule recovery and in the path between the go-fast boats and the Go Navigator that is the primary recovery ship.

 

[gangstonc]

I can’t imagine the motion sickness those astronauts had to have after adjusting to gravity and being in a confined space bobbing up and down in the water for an hour. Brutal.

 

[WesL]

I can’t imagine the motion sickness those astronauts had to have after adjusting to gravity and being in a confined space bobbing up and down in the water for an hour. Brutal.

For real... they had them on the ship within 25 minutes but just sitting on the ship waiting to be let out would be almost as bad.

By the way here is a pic from the armada of people that met them...

 

[WesL]

LOL so what do you do when you hanging out waiting for the crew hatch to be opened. The story attached isn't exactly correct, they continued to make calls via the sat phone even after they had been plucked from the Gulf of Mexico and were waiting for an issue with hazardous fumes to be taken care of. Of the calls made this might have been my favorite one...


The satellite phone was provided as a backup communication method in the event that there was an off-course landing. They had been given a checklist of calls to make. They added a few just to make sure the system really worked.

Bored inside their spacecraft, NASA astronauts made prank satellite phone calls to pass the time

"Houston, do you have Prince Albert in a can?"

futurism.com