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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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R.I.P can’t imagine what the family must be going through.
It’s time people started taking farm safety seriously in this country. It’s not good enough. I’m from a farm, grew up around farm machinery and work in the industry, and I’m well aware of the old fashioned attitudes of farmers to safety. Some people see it as a joke, and an attitude of “that will never happen on my farm” prevails. I’d be the first to defend farmers interests from non farming people complaining about other aspects of the agriculture industry in Ireland, but the rate of accidents and deaths on Irish farms this year is getting out of hand, and the farmers journal/IFA need to really start aggressively campaigning to change attitudes to farm safety in Ireland. In fairness they have begun to highlight the issue more recently. Of course accidents will always happen but the rates should be going down, not up, as people become more educated.
RIP to the young child, heartbreaking for his family.
Well said!
So sad. Poor little fella. Rip. I know my 3 yr old is mad for farming, tractors, diggers etc. It’s tough trying to keep him away from them but accidents can so easily happen.
Same here. Has a collection that he takes to bed every night
Not again :(
So so sad. Rest in peace little man.
So many tragic accidents happening on farms round the country… so tragic & what devastation for his family… my heart breaks when I hear stories of farm accidents as they happen so easily…
What a horrible tragedy :( but why was a three year old allowed anywhere near farm equipment?
Farms unlike factories are family home too .
Where children should be supervised at all times. I live on a farm with my husband and I will never understand how most of these accidents happen.
Accidents DO happen! No matter how careful you are!!!! Nobody’s perfect. Easier to judge when you’re not there…..
You weren’t there either Lisa!
We will probably never hear the full story behind this sad accidents, but this boy was 3, too young to even take the stairs alone never mind play out on the farm alone.
Accidents do happen yes, but you can’t say that all accidents are unavoidable!
Laura you are dead right. My father runs a farm and goes nuts any time his grand kids are brought any where near the yards where any machine is operating. This is careless and was 100% preventable. Why people continue pussy footing around this is beyond me when children are dying. The IFA and HSA have a huge amount to answer for, farm safety is a farce
And you’re very pleasant. Nice language btw, very mature.
How many times has a child broken away from a parent for a split second ? It only takes a second accidents happen . It kills me when kids are involved like most people on here . Please think now about the family . Not why or how . . The blame game is poor form. I live and work machines on the farm and every farmers first thoughts are his or her kids . . So please please stop the shitty comments
Your comment is fairly ruthless is everything 100% preventable. Was that child of 2 that was killed was that preventable . No . . Take a minute and think to your own childhood . How many near ones did you have . . This was a sad accident .
A lot of fatal accidents happening around agriculture lately and possibly all avoidable. Rest in peace little one..
Little 3 year old boys are able to run.possibly ran from house unknown to whoever was using the machinery.
Then you block it off with gates. It is that simply. Why in the name if god are you making excuses here. If people can put up fences to keep sheep worth very little it why cant the do the same to keep a child worth the world out of the farm. Again its 100% avoidable if people bother making the workplace safe and child free
There was a 15 year old child killed by a lorry in Dublin last week should there be a fence put on every foot path where there is goin to be children near lorry’s? Have you nothing else to comment on other than some poor families misfortune. Get a grip seriously
RIP. Tragic. Btw, Drimoleague is not in Bantry. It is between Bantry and Dunmanway.
My heart goes out to that poor family, can’t imagine what they must be going through. Farmers seem to get grants and payments for different things and maybe some of these grants could be linked to health and safety on the farm.
Sensitivity at its finest jesi. Unbelievable
Explain how it’s insensitive to say that kids should be supervised in dangerous areas?
There’s a few comments that I find a bit harsh here but well done for targeting mine :/
Jesi I can never get my head around how someone like yourself can attempt to critisize unfortunate parents whose baby is not even dead 24 hours. Are you so perfect that you feel that you have the right to be so judgemental?
Mary you know as well as I do if people don’t speak up on this now it will be forgotten about in a weeks time. Get off your high horse and maybe suggest something constructive as to how this might be prevented in the future rather than attacking people with valid points
Mary
Have you anything to add to the thread about the actual story or just like to criticise other posters?
I agree with jesi even if I wouldn’t have put it like that myself. But then maybe that’s the problem? We are too soft when it comes to something as important as safety on farms.
A time and a place!
O my god it so hard to give a comment ,poor family must be heart broken here are you all on a blame game.
We all know how hard it is on a farm with small children they want to watch there dad or big brother on /tractors /diggers ect and the joy they get out of it ,my heart aches for them as I have 6 grand children and they all love been on the farm .but we have to be crul to be kind so sad .little angle rip .
Frank kildare
Accidents do not ‘happen’, they are ’caused’ either by negligence, improper safety awareness, training or procedures. Farms are places of work, and yes also places to live therefore health and safety implementation needs to be a priority. Far too many accidents associated with farming lately, my condolences to the family on their tragic loss
All those safety signs that we are being told to put up during Bord Bia QA Audits won’t stop a single accident. Should Bord Bia “inspectors” be even allowed to do safety inspections as part of these audits? Stick to food marketing. Thats what Bord Bia is about. Not more clueless double jobbing muppets telling us what to do. HSA need to start shutting down farms to get message across. Some farms are death traps.
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