Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel on Mar 11, 2023
ORLANDO, Fla. — Another four humans are back on Earth after spending more than five months in space with the SpaceX Crew-5 mission that departed the International Space Station in the wee hours of Saturday before a 19-hour trip home to splash down off the coast of Florida.
“That was one heck of a ride. We’re happy to be home. Looking forward to the next one,” said commander and NASA astronaut Nicole Mann as Crew Dragon Endurance landed in the Gulf of Mexico near Tampa.
Spotlights from the recovery vessels flashed over the descending capsule lighting it up in the night sky as it made its soft water landing at 16 mph after slowing down from its orbital velocity of 17,500 mph just one hour earlier.
It hit temperatures near 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit while hitting the atmosphere and experiencing 3-5 G’s of force. The capsule was raised onto a recovery vessel just 30 minutes after splashdown, with hatch opening soon after allowing its passengers to breathe normal planetary air again for the first time since last fall before exiting Endurance.
The quartet of Mann, fellow NASA astronaut and pilot Josh Cassada, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina climbed aboard Endurance and detached from the forward-facing port of the ISS’s Harmony module at 2:20 a.m. leaving behind the remaining crew of seven on the station.
NASA astronaut Frank Rubio was on coms on the station as the spacecraft crept slowly away saying, “magnificent sunset departure. You guys look great. Great job up here, we’re going to miss you. Godspeed.”
Mann thanked NASA and SpaceX for their support during the stay saying, “It has been your tireless efforts and attention to detail that has made this mission successful. I can’t tell you how great it feels to be part of such an incredible team. And to the crew on board the International Space Station, you’ve got it, you make us proud, we’ll be following along on your mission. And to our friends and family, thank you for following along and being a part of our mission. It has been a privilege to add to the legacy. Semper fidelis.”
Mann, Cassada and Kikina completed their first-ever trip to space while Wakata had flown on four previous missions.
“It is absolutely overwhelming to back away from the International Space Station and gain some perspective on the place we called home for almost half a year,” Cassada said.
The trip home marked the end of the fifth operational crew flight for SpaceX under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. It was the second flight of Crew Dragon Endurance that first went to space for Crew-3 in 2021.
The Crew-5 mission blasted off on Oct. 5, 2022 from Kennedy Space Center docking with the ISS one day later as its crew became part of Expedition 68 on the station, which has had continuous human presence since 2000.
Mann became the first female commander of a SpaceX mission as well as becoming the first female Native American in space. Kikina was the first Roscosmos passenger to fly on a Commercial Crew Program flight. Wakata ended the mission with 505 days in space across his five missions while the three rookies logged 157 days in space.
Their Crew-6 replacements arrived last week on board the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour making its fourth flight.
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