SpaceX, in collaboration with NASA, declared on Friday (September 1) that the departure of the Crew Dragon capsule, which houses the Crew-6 astronauts, has been rescheduled to take place no earlier than early Sunday (September 3).
This delay translates to their anticipated splashdown now occurring just past midnight on Monday
The return journey of four astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) has been postponed by at least 24 hours due to adverse weather conditions, causing their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule to linger in orbit for another day.
NASA and SpaceX jointly announced the delay on Friday morning (September 1) citing unfavorable weather conditions near the designated splashdown zones off the Florida coast. The updated plan now sets the Crew Dragon capsule’s undocking from the ISS for Sunday at 7:05 a.m. EDT (1105 GMT), with the splashdown scheduled for Monday at 12:07 a.m. EDT (0407 GMT). However, the exact timing hinges on local weather conditions at the splashdown locations.
NASA officials stated, “Mission teams will meet Friday evening to determine the viability of the next Crew-6 undock target
The Crew Dragon capsule, named “Endeavour,” is currently in a healthy state while attached to the ISS. The four astronauts returning to Earth on Crew-6 include NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren “Woody” Hoburg, Sultan Al Neyadi from the United Arab Emirates, and Andrey Fedyaev from Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos. They commenced their Crew Dragon capsule’s space journey on March 3 and have since completed a six-month scientific expedition on the ISS.
Al Neyadi, the UAE’s first long-duration astronaut to visit the ISS, expressed his thoughts on X (formerly known as Twitter) on August 31, stating, “We began the mission as crewmates, but now we’re brothers.” He further elaborated on their shared experiences, expertise, traditions, and cultures, emphasizing the remarkable bond forged during their nearly six-month mission in orbit.
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