Days after NASA’s four-member team of SpaceX Crew-7 reached the International Space Station (ISS), the SpaceX Crew-6 members have bade farewell to the Expedition 69 NASA astronauts as they prepare for return to Earth.
The four members of SpaceX’s Crew-6 mission spent more than six months aboard the ISS and are now expected to depart on Saturday (September 2).
“When we showed up here six months ago, it was a new experience for all of us. I’d been to space, but never been on a long-duration mission, and this has been an absolutely incredible experience,” NASA astronaut and Crew-6 commander Stephen Bowen said during the livestreamed remarks on NASA Television.
The Crew-6 mission included cargo spacecraft visits, three spacewalks and the arrival of the Ax-2 private astronaut crew.
“Hopefully we’re leaving the space station just a little bit better than we found it,” he said.
How to watch Crew-6 undocking and splashdown live
Those interested can watch the Crew-6 undocking and splashdown live on NASA Television. Coverage of the hatch closing and undocking begins at 7 am EDT (4:30 pm IST) on September 2 and splashdown coverage will begin 11:45 pm EDT (9:15 am IST on September 3). Splashdown is expected off the coast of Florida on September 3 at 12:58 am EDT (10:28 pm IST).
NASA officials said that they are monitoring the possible impacts of Hurricane Idelia on these activities.
Crew-6 launched to space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on March 2 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Their Crew Dragon spacecraft docked with the ISS on March 3.
The crew included NASA’s Bowen and Hoburg, along with cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi.
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