The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, named Endeavour, safely splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, at 12:17 a.m. EDT on Monday, September 4, 2023. The capsule carried four space station crew members who completed a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The crew consisted of NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg, UAE astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. They were part of the Crew-6 mission, the sixth operational flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft to the ISS under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
The splashdown was visible as a bright streak across the night sky over northern Florida, as the capsule re-entered the atmosphere at a speed of about 17,500 mph. The capsule endured temperatures of up to 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit, creating a layer of plasma that temporarily cut off communications with the ground. The capsule deployed four main parachutes to slow down its descent and landed gently in the ocean.
The recovery teams on the SpaceX ship Megan quickly approached the capsule and secured it for hoisting onto the main deck. The crew members were then extracted from the capsule and received medical checks before boarding a helicopter that took them to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From there, they flew to Houston, Texas, where they were reunited with their families and friends.
A Record-Breaking Mission
The Crew-6 mission was launched on March 12, 2023, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew docked to the ISS on March 13, joining the Expedition 66 crew that included NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov.
During their stay on the ISS, the Crew-6 members conducted hundreds of scientific experiments and technology demonstrations in various fields such as biology, physics, medicine, and Earth observation. They also performed several spacewalks to install new solar arrays, upgrade station systems, and repair equipment. They celebrated several milestones and events on the orbiting laboratory, such as the 20th anniversary of continuous human presence on the ISS, the arrival of three cargo resupply missions, and the departure of two other Crew Dragon capsules.
The Crew-6 mission set several records in human spaceflight history. It was the first mission to fly an Emirati astronaut to the ISS, making Alneyadi the third Arab and first Muslim to visit the station. It was also the first mission to fly a reused Crew Dragon spacecraft and a reused Falcon 9 rocket for a crewed launch. The Endeavour capsule had previously flown the Demo-2 and Crew-2 missions, while the Falcon 9 booster had previously flown the Crew-1 mission. The Crew-6 mission also marked the longest duration for a U.S. crewed spacecraft, surpassing the previous record of 84 days set by Skylab 4 in 1974.
A New Era of Commercial Crew
The Crew-6 mission was part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which aims to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from low-Earth orbit for NASA and its international partners. The program has contracted two private companies, SpaceX and Boeing, to develop and operate crewed spacecraft that can carry up to seven passengers to the ISS.
SpaceX is currently the only provider that has successfully flown crewed missions to the ISS under the program. The company has flown six operational missions so far: Crew-1 , Crew-2 , Inspiration4 , Axiom-1 , Crew-5 , and Crew-6 . The company plans to fly two more missions in 2023: Axiom-2 , which will carry four private astronauts for a 10-day stay on the ISS; and Crew-7 , which will carry four NASA astronauts for a six-month mission.
Boeing is still working on its Starliner spacecraft, which has yet to fly a crewed mission to the ISS. The company suffered a setback in August 2023 when it had to abort its second uncrewed test flight due to a technical issue. Boeing plans to retry the test flight in late 2023 or early 2024 before attempting its first crewed flight.
NASA hopes that by partnering with commercial companies, it can foster a robust and competitive market for human spaceflight in low-Earth orbit, while freeing up resources for its deep space exploration goals such as returning humans to the moon and eventually sending them to Mars.