SpaceX return CRS-30 Dragon spacecraft to earth after 36 days in Space

After 36 days in space, SpaceX has marked the return of the CRS-30 mission’s Dragon spacecraft to Earth earlier today. SpaceX launched this mission on March 22, 2024, as the 30th Commercial Resupply Service to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Falcon 9 rocket lifted off with Dragon spacecraft carrying 6,000 pounds of cargo including science research, investigations, supplies, and equipment for the space station crew. There are also some new technology demonstrations. The spacecraft docked with Spacestation on the following launch day.

SpaceX and NASA undocked the mission on April 28 and sent it back to Earth. Dragon had to perform several maneuvers in order to orient according to Earth’s splash zone. At 1:38 a.m. EDT, SpaceX successfully marked the return of the Dragon spacecraft to Earth. After the splashdown, the recovery team will transport science experiments via helicopter to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft (Source – SpaceX)

Up next, the SpaceX crew-8 members will board the Dragon crew spacecraft on Thursday and undock the vehicle from the forward port of the Station’s Harmony module and redock to Harmony’s zenith port.

This will make way for the upcoming test flight for the Boeing Starliner spacecraft. It will be the first human spaceflight test for Boening Starliner and it will fly with United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket no earlier than May 6.

A few days ago, NASA cleared a flight approval for Boeing Starliner, the spacecraft is 15 feet in diameter. The upcoming test flight will host NASA Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. The spacecraft will liftoff from Space Launch Compelx-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.