Spacecraft

The Dragon cargo spacecraft departing the International Space Station to end its CRS-28 mission (Image NASA TV)

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A little while ago, SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft ended its CRS-28 (Cargo Resupply Service 28) mission for NASA splashing down smoothly off the Florida Coast. The Dragon left the International Space Station about 22 hours earlier. For SpaceX, this was the 8th mission of the 2nd contract with NASA to transport supplies to the Station with the new version of the Dragon cargo spacecraft.

Shortly after the splashdown, SpaceX’s recovery ship went to retrieve the Dragon to transport it to the coast. The cargo brought back to Earth will be delivered to NASA within a few hours. The Dragon spacecraft reached the International Space Station on June 6, 2023.

The Dragon 2 cargo spacecraft docked with the International Space Station in its CRS-28 mission (Image NASA TV)

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A little while ago, SpaceX’s Dragon 2 spacecraft docked with the International Space Station’s Harmony module completing the first part of its CRS-28 mission. Astronaut Woody Hoburg monitored the operation assisted by his fellow astronaut Frank Rubio, but the cargo spacecraft, which blasted off when it was Monday morning in the USA, completed the maneuvers automatically without any problem.

The Dragon 2 spacecraft starts its CRS-28 mission blasting off atop a Falcon 9 rocket (Image NASA TV)

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A little while ago, the SpaceX Dragon 2 spacecraft blasted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in its CRS-28 (Cargo Resupply Service 28) mission, also referred to as SPX-28. After almost exactly 12 minutes it separated successfully from the rocket’s last stage and went en route. This is the 28th mission for the Dragon/Dragon 2 spacecraft to resupply the International Space Station with various cargoes and then return to Earth, again with various cargoes.

The Shenzhou 15 capsule after its landing (Photo courtesy Xinhua/Li Zhipeng)

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A few hours ago, the three Chinese taikonauts of the Shenzhou 15 mission returned to Earth after spending a little more than six months on the Chinese space station Tiangong. The three taikonauts Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming, and Zhang Lu had left the station a few hours earlier to land at a site called Dongfeng in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. A procedure that significantly reduces the time to return to Earth already tested in the past worked again and is becoming routine.

The Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft recovered at the end of its Ax-2 mission (Photo courtesy SpaceX)

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A few hours ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft concluded its Ax-2 mission by splashing down without problems. On board were Peggy Whitson, Ali AlQarni, John Shoffner, and Rayyanah Barnawi, who ended this completely private space mission in the Atlantic Ocean after leaving the International Space Station about 12 hours earlier. Shortly after splashing down, SpaceX’s recovery ship went to retrieve the Freedom and its crew to transport them to the coast.