Crew-1 – Spaceflight Now

Crew Dragon brings four astronauts back to nighttime splashdown

May 2, 2021 William Harwood

Four astronauts strapped into their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, undocked from the International Space Station and plunged to a fiery pre-dawn splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico Sunday, closing out the first operational flight of SpaceX’s futuristic touch-screen ferry ship.

Live coverage: Four astronauts return home after 167 days in space

May 1, 2021 Spaceflight Now

NASA commander Mike Hopkins, pilot Victor Glover, astronaut Shannon Walker, and Japanese mission specialist Soichi Noguchi wrapped up a 167-day mission early Sunday with a splashdown at sea aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule at around 2:56 a.m. EDT (0656 GMT).

Crew Dragon return postponed again by poor weather

April 30, 2021 Stephen Clark

The departure and return to Earth of a four-person space station crew on a SpaceX Dragon capsule has been postponed again by high winds in the splashdown zone in the Gulf of Mexico. NASA and SpaceX officials announced the Crew Dragon is now scheduled to undock from the International Space Station late Saturday for a predawn splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico early Sunday.

Return of SpaceX crew capsule delayed by high winds

April 26, 2021 Stephen Clark

High winds predicted off the coast of Florida this week will keep SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft and its four-person crew in orbit until Saturday, three days after their previously scheduled return to Earth from the International Space Station.

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule swaps docking ports on space station

April 5, 2021 Stephen Clark

In the home stretch of nearly a half-year on the International Space Station, four astronauts suited up and rode their SpaceX-owned Crew Dragon “Resilience” spaceship to a new docking port outside the orbiting research lab Monday, a first-of-its kind maneuver for the new generation of commercial crew spaceships.

Live coverage: SpaceX crew capsule moves to new space station docking port

April 5, 2021 Stephen Clark

Four astronauts strapped into their SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft Monday and rode along for an automated maneuver to relocate the capsule to a different docking port outside the International Space Station. The relocation maneuver, which concluded with a link-up with the new docking port 7:08 a.m. EDT (1108 GMT), was the first of its kind for a Crew Dragon spacecraft.

Station astronauts prep for relocation of SpaceX crew capsule

April 4, 2021 Stephen Clark

Commander Mike Hopkins and his three crewmates will board their Crew Dragon “Resilience” capsule Monday for a first-time maneuver to relocate the SpaceX-owned spaceship to a new docking port outside the International Space Station.

Busy month of crew rotations on tap at International Space Station

April 1, 2021 Stephen Clark

Seven astronauts and cosmonauts are gearing up for launches April 9 and April 22 to the International Space Station, replacing seven outgoing crew members set to land in Kazakhstan and off the coast of Florida on April 17 and April 28.

Spacewalkers vent coolant lines and mate cables outside space station

March 13, 2021 William Harwood

Struggling with balky electrical connectors, spacewalker Mike Hopkins managed to plug in and secure three of four thick power and data cables Saturday that are needed by a European experiment platform, leaving one cable for additional troubleshooting.

Astronauts complete spacewalk to prep for station power system upgrades

February 28, 2021 William Harwood

Two astronauts floated outside the International Space Station Sunday for the first in a series of spacewalks to upgrade the lab’s aging solar power system, assembling a support fixture that eventually will hold a new solar blanket.