In the wee hours of this morning—Tuesday, 9 November—the
Endeavour (Dragon C206) splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico & was recovered by the
G.O. Navigator, safely returning to Earth the Crew-2 quartet of Shane Kimbrough (N.A.S.A.), Megan MacArthur (N.A.S.A.), Akihiko Hoshide (J.A.X.A.), & Thomas Pesquet (E.S.A.). Alas, a series of delays to the launch of the Crew-3 mission precluded the two crews from meeting on the International Space Station. Currently, there are only three crew aboard the I.S.S., two cosmonauts & an astronaut. In October (apologies for being behind on "The Stars My Destination" posts), for the few days between the arrival of
Soyuz MS-19 & the departure of
Soyuz MS-18, there were ten persons aboard the station.
The
Endeavour set a new American spacecraft endurance record, spending one hundred ninety-nine days in space, surpassing the previous record of one hundred sixty-seven days set by the
Resilience (Dragon C207) during the Crew-1 mission. Between Demo-2 & Crew-2, the
Endeavour has spent two hundred sixty-three days on orbit; between Crew-1 & Inspiration4, the
Resilience has spent one hundred seventy days on orbit. The Crew-3 mission will use a new capsule, the
Endurance (Dragon C210).
Bonus Song o' the Day: Crew-2 & the Endeavour
The Phenomenauts, "Welcome Back" from
Re-Entry (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)
The Wayback Machine Tour of Launch America
Crew-1 Splashdown
Crew-2 Launch
Crew-1 Relocation
Crew-1 Launch
Demo-2 Splashdown
Demo-2 Launch
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