crew_5_return.jpg The SpaceX Crew-5 members are seated inside the Dragon Endurance crew ship atop the Falcon 9 rocket before launching to the International Space Station from the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A in Florida. From left are, Mission Specialist Anna Kikina from Roscosmos; Pilot Josh Cassada and Commander Nicole Mann, both NASA astronauts; and Mission Specialist Koichi Wakata from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Credits: NASA

NASA will provide coverage of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission return to Earth from the International Space Station, beginning with undocking coverage live at 12 a.m. EST on Saturday, March 11. The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to undock from the space station at 2:05 a.m., to begin the journey home.

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

https://www.nasa.gov/live

NASA and SpaceX are targeting 9:19 p.m. Saturday for a splashdown that will wrap up a nearly six-month science mission for NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Nicole Mann, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina.

Following conclusion of undocking coverage, NASA coverage of Crew-5’s return will continue with audio only, and full coverage will resume at the start of the splashdown broadcast. Real-time audio between Crew-5 and flight controllers at NASA’s Mission Audio stream will remain available and includes conversations with astronauts aboard the space station and a live video feed from the orbiting laboratory.  

The Dragon spacecraft, named Endurance by the agency’s SpaceX Crew-3 astronauts on its maiden voyage, will autonomously undock, depart the space station, and splash down Saturday at one of seven targeted landing zones in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. The spacecraft also will return time-sensitive research to Earth.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 return coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):

Saturday, March 11

12 a.m. – NASA TV hatch closure coverage begins for ingress and 12:15 a.m. hatch closing

1:45 a.m. – NASA TV coverage resumes for 2:05 a.m. undocking

8:15 p.m. – NASA TV splashdown coverage begins

8:25 p.m. – Deorbit burn

9:19 p.m. – Splashdown off the coast of Florida

11 p.m. – Return to Earth media teleconference from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston with:

• Steve Stich, manager, Commercial Crew Program, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida
• Joel Montalbano, manager, International Space Station, NASA Johnson
• Sarah Walker, director, Dragon Mission Management, SpaceX
• Hiroshi Sasaki, vice president, JAXA

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

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 / Lora Bleacher
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / lora.v.bleacher@nasa.gov

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

Leah Cheshier / Dan Huot
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
leah.d.cheshier@nasa.gov / daniel.g.huot@nasa.gov

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