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The NASA astronauts who traveled to the International Space Station in SpaceX’s first crewed flight in May are anticipated to return to Earth on Aug. 2 after spending two months in orbit, a NASA spokesman mentioned on Friday.
US astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will gear up for the ultimate benchmark check of SpaceX’s so-called Demo-2 mission: a coordinated splashdown someplace within the Atlantic Ocean that can cap NASA’s first crewed mission from US soil in almost a decade.
Since 2011, when the US area shuttle program ended, NASA astronauts have needed to hitch rides into orbit aboard Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft.
Boeing Co, which is producing its personal launch system in competitors with SpaceX, is anticipated to fly its CST-100 Starliner automobile with astronauts aboard for the primary time subsequent yr. NASA has awarded almost $eight billion mixed to SpaceX and Boeing for improvement of their rival rockets.
Behnken is gearing up for his last spacewalk on July 21 forward of prepping with Hurley to depart the area station, NASA has mentioned. Mission planners on Earth shall be watching climate forecasts to calculate the exact time and site of Crew Dragon’s splashdown, the NASA spokesman mentioned, including the date might slip.
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