52024105993_a6d6b2edcf_k.jpg The four commercial crew astronauts representing NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 mission are pictured in their Dragon spacesuits for a fit check aboard the International Space Station's Harmony module on April 21. From left, are ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer, and NASA astronauts Tom Marshburn, Raja Chari, and Kayla Barron. Credits: NASA

NASA will provide live coverage of the upcoming return activities for the agency’s SpaceX Crew-3 mission. The mission will depart from the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Kayla Barron, Raja Chari, and Tom Marshburn, as well as ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer.

NASA and SpaceX are targeting 12:43 a.m. EDT on Friday, May 6, for the splashdown and conclusion of the Crew-3 flight, wrapping up a nearly six-month science mission. The spacecraft is scheduled to undock from the space station to begin the journey home at 1:05 a.m. on Thursday, May 5.

The return and related activities will air live on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.

In advance of the return of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, the Crew-3 astronauts will share farewell remarks, and station commander Tom Marshburn of NASA will hand over command of the station to Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev.

The Dragon spacecraft, named Endurance by crew, will autonomously undock, depart the space station, and splash down at one of seven targeted landing zones in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. Endurance also will return important and time-sensitive research to Earth.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 return coverage is as follows (all times are Eastern):

Wednesday, May 4

2:35 p.m. – Crew-3 farewell remarks and change of command ceremony aboard the space station

11 p.m. – Hatch closure coverage begins for 11:20 p.m. hatch closing

Thursday, May 5

12:45 a.m. – Coverage begins for the 1:05 a.m. undocking. NASA will have continuous coverage from undocking to splashdown

11:53 p.m. – Deorbit burn

Friday, May 6

12:43 a.m. – Splashdown off the coast of Florida

2:30 a.m. – Return to Earth media teleconference call from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston with:

• Kathryn Lueders, associate administrator, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington
• Steve Stich, manager, Commercial Crew Program, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida
• Joel Montalbano, manager, International Space Station, NASA Johnson
• William Gerstenmaier, vice president, Build and Flight Reliability, SpaceX
• Frank De Winne, manager, International Space Station Program at ESA

To participate by phone, media must contact the Johnson newsroom at: jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov or 281-483-5111 by 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 5. Those following the briefing on social media may ask questions using #AskNASA.

Learn more about space station activities by following @space_station, and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts and the space station blog.

See full mission coverage, NASA's commercial crew blog, and more information about the mission at:

https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

-end-

Press Contacts

Joshua Finch / Gina Anderson
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / gina.a.anderson@nasa.gov

Brittney Thorpe / Kathleen Haas Ellis
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
Brittney.thorpe@nasa.gov / kathleen.h.ellis@nasa.gov

Dan Huot / Courtney Beasley
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
daniel.g.huot@nasa.gov / courtney.m.beasley@nasa.gov

NASA news releases and other information are available automatically by sending an e-mail to hqnews-join@newsletters.nasa.gov (no subject or text in the body is required).

To unsubscribe from the list, send an e-mail message to hqnews-leave@newsletters.nasa.gov (no subject or text in the body is required).