SpaceX Delays Dragon’s Departure From Space Station to Saturday Due to Weather

Due to adverse weather, SpaceX Dragon, which had been slated to return home on Friday, will now depart the station on Saturday.

According to NASA blog post, SpaceX will offer another update on undocking during a weather briefing on Friday at 12 p.m. EST. If the Dragon craft undocks on Saturday as scheduled, it will splash down at 4 p.m. EST on Sunday.

(Photo: Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)
PANAMA CITY, FL. - MAY 02: In this NASA handout, NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins is helped out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship after he, NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Shannon Walker, and Victor Glover, landed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Panama City, Florida, Sunday, May 2, 2021.

Weather Delays SpaceX Dragon Departure From ISS

Space.com said NASA astronauts Kayla Barron and Thomas Marshburn readied the Dragon for its return journey this morning, packing biological samples onto the ship for analysis on Earth. Barron and European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer also loaded the spacecraft with freezers containing more research materials.

According to Science Times, Cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov likewise completed a seven-hour, 11-minute spacewalk beyond the International Space Station's certain bounds. While the two were cleaning up after their spacewalk, SpaceX was ready to return to Earth with its robotic Dragon cargo vehicle. However, the weather on the ground did not cooperate.

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Cargo Dragon to Return 4,900 Pounds of Supplies, Pieces of Equipment

After launching on December 21 of last year, the Cargo Dragon landed at the International Space Station. It will now return to Earth, laden with 4,900 pounds of supplies and equipment before leaving the space station. It includes studies such as the use of a light imaging microscope to investigate the matter at a microscopic level, the findings of research into the use of nanoparticles for synthesizing new materials, and the findings of a study into how the human body responds to the ISS's microgravity environment.

Digital Trends said the Dragon will splash down with a parachute off the coast of Florida. Recovery workers will retrieve the capsule for possible future reuse and deliver the scientific data to researchers for study.

How to Watch Splashdown

NASA will broadcast the spacecraft's takeoff live on its NASA TV channel. You may see this at home by visiting NASA's website or watching the video attached below.

Next, the spacecraft will move away from the station and toward Earth, splashing down on Saturday, January 22 at roughly 4:25 p.m. ET. The splashdown will not be broadcast live. However, if you wish to keep up with the craft's journey, go to NASA's space station blog, where you may get updates on the craft's status as it approaches and makes its splashdown.