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TWO NASA ASTRONAUTS are getting ready to make the first splashdown return in 45 years.
Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley are set to come back to Earth from the International Space Station on Sunday, amid threats of a looming hurricane.
The duo made history on 30 May when they became the first people to launch into low-Earth orbit on a commercial spacecraft that was built by SpaceX.
Their mission, named Demo-2, also marked the first time Nasa launched astronauts from US soil in nine years.
The US space agency said plans are moving forward to bring the astronauts home, with the splashdown expected to occur just off the coast of Florida.
The pair are scheduled to undock from the space station at around 12:34 am (Irish time) tomorrow, and travel in SpaceX’s astronaut carrier, the Crew Dragon, before splashdown a 7:42 pm.
Nasa said it will continue to monitor Hurricane Isaias as it edges close to south Florida over the weekend.
Behnken told reporters during a press conference yesterday: “We won’t leave the space station without some good landing opportunities in front of us, good splashdown weather.”
The last time astronauts made an ocean landing was on July 1975 during an Apollo mission.
Since then, spacemen have always landed on terra firma, using Nasa’s Space Shuttle or the Russian space agency’s Soyuz capsules.
If all goes to plan, the splashdown will usher in a new era for Nasa, which will have at least one commercial spacecraft ready to launch astronauts into space from US soil.
The splashdown is the final step in the mission designed to test SpaceX’s human spaceflight system – including launch, docking, splashdown, and recovery operations.
In a post-launch conference back in May, Elon Musk – who is the founder of SpaceX – said was was not keen to “declare victory yet”, emphasising that the “return can be more dangerous than the ascent”.
Musk said at that time: “We need to bring them home safely and make sure that we are doing everything we can to minimise that risk of reentry.”
Shortly after undocking, the Crew Dragon perform will perform several manoeuvres that will lower the capsule’s orbit and get it closer to the splashdown zone.
Sometime later, the spacecraft will perform another manoeuvre, known as deorbit burn, which will place the it on a trajectory for splashdown, travelling at a speed of approximately 17,500 miles per hour.
On entering the Earth’s atmosphere, the Crew Dragon will face scorching temperatures of around 1,900C as it deploys parachutes to slow its speed down to around 119 miles per hour, before landing on the ocean.
The re-entry will create a communications blackout between the spacecraft and Earth that is expected to last approximately six minutes, Nasa said.
Two SpaceX recovery ships, the Go Searcher and the Go Navigator, made up of spacecraft engineers, recovery experts and medical professionals, will be waiting to pull the capsule on board and help the astronauts get out as they begin readjusting to gravity.
The re-entry will mark the end of SpaceX’s human spaceflight demonstration mission.
The aerospace company’s first operational flight is expected to take place in September, where a second Crew Dragon spacecraft will carry four astronauts to the space station.
Meanwhile, the capsule that carried Hurley and Behnken into space will be refurbished and launched during SpaceX’s second operational crewed mission, Crew 2, which will take place early next year.
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Re: abortions for cleft-lip, you don’t think that will happen here? Of course it will. Once abortion is justified, for whatever reason, it’s only a matter of time before it’s being justified for any reason.
Stop telling the truth it’s not allowed,feminists are the only ones that tell the truth ,your just a man be quiet .
Who’s to presume its not already happening here? You have to presume that if we send 4,500 women to the UK for termination that some of them have terminated pregnancies as a result of the above. But of course, you’d rather keep termination where it belongs… You know… In the UK.
Also, good dodging of the real issues… This effects “dozens” of pregnancies. How many dozens? There are 200,000 terminations carried out in the UK a year, is this going to be yet another diversion from the central debate?
#Abortion: My question would be of the women who opted for an abortion due to birth defects, were any of these women on prescribed Psychoactive medication at the time, particularly “anti-depressants” or other medication?
I came across what seems like a good law firm in America called Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman. Between 2005 and 2008 I was prescribed a drug called Ciprager for Panic attacks. Also called Citalopram, Cipramil and in America is is called Celexa. I went on to develop “Bipolar disorder” from taking the drug (in Summer 2008). There is a Yale study to back me up on that.
A woman may be on these drugs before or during pregnancy (especially if it is an unplanned pregnancy). Luckily I did not become pregnant while on the drug.
This is one of the pages belonging to the law firm I mentioned.
http://www.celexa-birthdefects.com/
Abdominal Birth Defects / Omphalocele
Anal atresia (complete or partial closure of the anus)
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Cardiac (heart) defects
Cleft lip and cleft palate
Clubfoot (one or both feet turn downward and inward)
Craniosynostosis (skull defect)
Limb Defects
Neural-tube defects (brain and spinal cord, spina bifida)
PPHN (Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn)
[Never stop or change medication without talking to a good doctor, due to the dangers of withdrawal. As stopping any drug needs to be managed. This is only one SSRI/"anti-depressant" of many. Professor David Healy in Wales and Dr Peter Breggin in America does a lot of good, honest work in this area]
Plus I found it a bit ironic during the abortion debate that Psychiatrists were used as “mental health experts”, considering they can have a person on damaging drugs before or during pregnancy. If I was pregnant and suicidal I wouldn’t go near a Psychiatrist. They lock people away and over prescribe drugs, some of which have lawsuits against the maker. And there is a lawsuit which I would love to post the details about here but will refrain. It involved a Psychiatrist and the drugs Lithium and sodium valproate.
I would see clinical Psychologists as experts on mental health or Psychotherapists. As for Psychiatrists, with a few notable exceptions, they can potentially damage your mental health. And a question I would pose to Consultant Psychiatrists, what % of ye are actually trained in Psychotherapy? According to Psychiatrist Dr Michael Corry RIP only 10% are trained therapists (listen 20 mins in). Not forgetting that this man was bullied before this death by “the regime”:
Super Bowl Sunday – it’s all we’re hearing about here in the States. Oh Lord………
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