<p>NASA&#8217;s SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts safely splashed down in the <span class="xn-location">Gulf of Mexico</span> off the coast of <span class="xn-person">Florida Monday</span> aboard the Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft, completing the agency&#8217;s <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&;l=en&;o=3352268-1&;h=2330921076&;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nasa.gov%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fatoms%2Ffiles%2Fcrew-2_mission_overview.pdf&;a=second+long-duration+commercial+crew+mission" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">second long-duration commercial crew mission</a> to the International Space Station. The mission set a record for the longest spaceflight by a U.S. crewed spacecraft. The international crew of four spent 199 days in orbit, surpassing the 168 days set by <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&;l=en&;o=3352268-1&;h=2225037467&;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nasa.gov%2Fpress-release%2Fcrew-1-astronauts-safely-splash-down-after-space-station-mission%2F&;a=NASA%27s+SpaceX+Crew-1" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">NASA&#8217;s SpaceX Crew-1</a> mission earlier this year.</p>
<p>NASA astronauts <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&;l=en&;o=3352268-1&;h=3924014631&;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nasa.gov%2Fastronauts%2Fbiographies%2Frobert-shane-kimbrough%2Fbiography&;a=Shane+Kimbrough" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"><span class="xn-person">Shane Kimbrough</span></a> and <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&;l=en&;o=3352268-1&;h=826618372&;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nasa.gov%2Fastronauts%2Fbiographies%2Fk-megan-mcarthur%2Fbiography&;a=Megan+McArthur" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"><span class="xn-person">Megan McArthur</span></a>, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&;l=en&;o=3352268-1&;h=2057038984&;u=https%3A%2F%2Fhumans-in-space.jaxa.jp%2Fen%2Fastronaut%2Fhoshide-akihiko%2F%23%3A%7E%3Atext%3DBorn%2520in%2520Tokyo%2520in%25201968%2Ca%2520certified%2520astronaut%2520in%25202001.%26text%3DBorn%2520in%2520Tokyo%252C%2520Japan.&;a=Akihiko+Hoshide" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"><span class="xn-person">Akihiko Hoshide</span></a>, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&;l=en&;o=3352268-1&;h=2380713503&;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.esa.int%2FScience_Exploration%2FHuman_and_Robotic_Exploration%2FAstronauts%2FThomas_Pesquet&;a=Thomas+Pesquet" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Thomas Pesquet</a> returned to Earth in a parachute-assisted splashdown at <span class="xn-chron">10:33 p.m. EST</span> off the coast of <span class="xn-location">Pensacola, Florida</span>. Crews aboard SpaceX recovery vessels successfully recovered the spacecraft and astronauts. After returning to shore, the astronauts will fly back to NASA&#8217;s Johnson Space Center in <span class="xn-location">Houston</span>.</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re happy to have Shane, Megan, Aki, and Thomas safely back on Earth after another successful, record-setting long-duration mission to the International Space Station,&#8221; said NASA administrator <span class="xn-person">Bill Nelson</span>. &#8220;Congratulations to the teams at NASA and SpaceX who worked so hard to ensure their successful splashdown. NASA&#8217;s Commercial Crew Program continues to demonstrate safe, reliable transportation to conduct important science and maintenance on the space station.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Crew-2 mission <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&;l=en&;o=3352268-1&;h=3256161136&;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nasa.gov%2Fpress-release%2Fnasa-s-spacex-crew-2-astronauts-headed-to-international-space-station&;a=launched+April+23" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">launched <span class="xn-chron">April 23</span></a> on a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA&#8217;s <span class="xn-location">Kennedy Space Center</span> in <span class="xn-location">Florida</span>. Crew Dragon Endeavour docked to the Harmony module&#8217;s forward port of the space station <span class="xn-chron">April 24</span>, nearly 24-hours after liftoff.</p>
<p>Kimbrough, McArthur, Hoshide, and Pesquet traveled 84,653,119 statute miles during their mission, stayed 198 days aboard the space station, and completed 3,194 orbits around Earth.</p>
<p>Throughout their mission, the Crew-2 astronauts contributed to a host of science and maintenance activities, scientific investigations, and technology demonstrations. In addition, they conducted four spacewalks and multiple public engagement events while aboard the orbiting laboratory. They studied <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&;l=en&;o=3352268-1&;h=814018855&;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nasa.gov%2Fmission_pages%2Fstation%2Fresearch%2Fexperiments%2Fexplorer%2FInvestigation.html%3F%23id%3D1651&;a=how+gaseous+flames+behave" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">how gaseous flames behave</a> in microgravity, <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&;l=en&;o=3352268-1&;h=1440090166&;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nasa.gov%2Ffeature%2Fchile-peppers-start-spicing-up-the-space-station&;a=grew+hatch+green+chiles" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">grew hatch green chiles</a> in the station&#8217;s Plant Habitat Facility, installed <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&;l=en&;o=3352268-1&;h=2463470139&;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nasa.gov%2Fmission_pages%2Fstation%2Fresearch%2Fexperiments%2Fexplorer%2FFacility.html%3F%23id%3D1891&;a=free-flying+robotic+assistants" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">free-flying robotic assistants</a>, and even donned <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&;l=en&;o=3352268-1&;h=3820088909&;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nasa.gov%2Fmission_pages%2Fstation%2Fresearch%2Fexperiments%2Fexplorer%2FInvestigation.html%3F%23id%3D8370&;a=virtual+reality+goggles" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">virtual reality goggles</a> to test new methods of exercising in space, among many other scientific activities. The astronauts took hundreds of pictures of Earth as part of the <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&;l=en&;o=3352268-1&;h=3540104316&;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nasa.gov%2Fmission_pages%2Fstation%2Fresearch%2Fstation-science-101%2Fearth-observation%2F&;a=Crew+Earth+Observation" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Crew Earth Observation</a> investigation, one of the longest-running investigations aboard the space station, which contributes to tracking of natural disasters and changes to our home planet.</p>
<p>Kimbrough, Hoshide, and Pesquet also completed four spacewalks to install, deploy, or otherwise prepare for installation of ISS Roll-out Solar Arrays. This brought the total number of spacewalks for Kimbrough, Hoshide, and Pesquet to nine, four, and six, respectively. The <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&;l=en&;o=3352268-1&;h=3509795207&;u=https%3A%2F%2Fblogs.nasa.gov%2Fspacestation%2F2021%2F09%2F12%2Finternational-astronauts-begin-spacewalk-to-modify-stations-power-system%2F&;a=fourth+spacewalk%2C+conducted+by+Hoshide+and+Pesquet+on+Sept.+12%2C+" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">fourth spacewalk, conducted by Hoshide and Pesquet on <span class="xn-chron">Sept. 12</span>, </a>was the first in the history of the space station that did not include an American or Russian.</p>
<p>On <span class="xn-chron">July 21</span>, all four Crew-2 astronauts boarded Endeavour for a <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&;l=en&;o=3352268-1&;h=2680679815&;u=https%3A%2F%2Fblogs.nasa.gov%2Fspacestation%2F2021%2F07%2F21%2Fcrew-dragon-endeavour-has-re-docked-to-station%2F&;a=port+relocation+maneuver" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">port relocation maneuver</a>, moving their spacecraft from the forward-facing port to the space-facing port on the station&#8217;s Harmony module.</p>
<p>The Crew-2 flight is part of NASA&#8217;s <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&;l=en&;o=3352268-1&;h=772048412&;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nasa.gov%2Fexploration%2Fcommercial%2Fcrew%2Findex.html&;a=Commercial+Crew+Program" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Commercial Crew Program</a>, which has worked with the U.S. aerospace industry to launch astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from American soil to the space station. The splashdown of Crew-2 comes just before the launch of NASA&#8217;s SpaceX Crew-3 mission, currently scheduled for no earlier than <span class="xn-chron">Wednesday, Nov. 10</span>, on another long duration mission of approximately six months.</p>
<p>Endeavour will return for inspection and processing to SpaceX&#8217;s Dragon Lair in <span class="xn-location">Florida</span>, where teams will examine the spacecraft&#8217;s data and performance throughout the flight.</p>
<p>Following Crew-3&#8217;s launch, the next NASA and SpaceX crew rotation mission is Crew-4, currently targeted for launch in <span class="xn-chron">April 2022</span>. Crew-3 astronauts are scheduled to return to Earth shortly after welcoming their Crew-4 colleagues to the orbiting laboratory.</p>

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