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As it happened: UAE astronaut's 17-hour journey to Earth begins

After undocking and departure from space station, Sultan AlNeyadi and his Crew-6 mates are all set for a splashdown on Monday morning

Published: Sun 3 Sep 2023, 1:00 PM

Updated: Mon 4 Sep 2023, 7:19 AM

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[Editor's note: This live blog is now closed. Tune in on September 4 to get the latest updates on the Dragon spacecraft's splashdown on Earth.]

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft with UAE astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, Nasa astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev has undocked from the forward-facing port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module at 3.05pm (UAE time).

After a 17-hour flight, Endeavour splashes down at approximately 8.07am Monday, September 4, near Tampa off the coast of Florida.

“Undocking confirmed! Now in orbital nighttime, Crew-6 are on the way home,” Nasa said.

The Crew-6 mission launched March 2, 2023, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the agency’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida and docked to the space station the next day.

Here is the action, as it happened:

3.15pm Crew gets comfortable

The crew has doffed their suits. Their travel back will take around 17 hours, and without their suits, their journey home will be more comfortable.

Recovery teams will go and pick them up once they splash down on one of the Space X recovery vessels tomorrow on Monday morning.

3.06pm Audio only

The broadcast for Crew-6's return will temporarily switch to audio-only coverage, but full visual coverage will resume at the beginning of the splashdown broadcast.

Meanwhile, continuous real-time audio communication between Crew-6 and NASA's mission control can be accessed via the Mission Audio stream. This audio stream will feature discussions between astronauts on the space station and provide a live video feed from the orbiting laboratory.

3.06pm Undocking confirmed! Now in orbital nighttime, Crew-6 are on the way home

Photo: AFP file

Photo: AFP file

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft with astronauts Sultan Alneyadi, Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev inside undocked from the forward-facing port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module at 3:05 pm UAE time to complete a six-month science mission.

3.05pm Dragon undocks from International Space Station

Dragon unlatched itself from the space station by releasing the 12 hard captured hooks. That occurred in two separate phases. All of that combined took roughly four and a half minutes.

Then Dragon began to depart from the station and begin to move itself further and further away by using its thrusters.

3.01pm Dragon is GO for undocking

2.51pm Few minutes to go for undocking

A few minutes remain before the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft (Endeavour) undocks from the International Space Station:

2.27pm Where is the crew docked?

The crew is docked to ISS’s Harmony port. This is the forward most port on the orbiting laboratory. Crew 6 initially docked to that port on March 3 when they arrived and conducted a port relocation maneuver from the Zenith port to the forward port to allow Space X’s dragon cargo earlier this year.

Nasa astronaut Frank Rubio is on the station’s side supervising today’s undocking procedures.

1.59pm Watch: AlNeyadi wears his suit

This is the moment that captures Sultan AlNeyadi donning his SpaceX spacesuit inside the Dragon spacecraft. Just a little over an hour remains for the spacecraft to undock from the International Space Station and begin its journey to Earth.

1.29pm Station hatch closed

Both hatches are closed now. The returning astronauts have been suited up. They can receive cool air and communication through their space suits that were custom fitted by Space X. They also go through several rounds of leak checks of their suits. The four astronauts were seen preparing for depressurization of the vestibule during the livestreaming that will resume shortly.

Nasa said, “Everything so far has been as per schedule.”

Astronauts were also seen configuring the spacecraft cabin ahead of undocking.

1.24pm AlNeyadi gets suited up

You can see Sultan AlNeyadi on the right donning his custom spacesuit, made by SpaceX individually for each astronaut.

Ahead of the undocking, crew members are also going through several leaks checks of their spacesuits. Frank Rubio is on the station side.

1.21pm Dragon hatch closed

Nasa receives confirmation that the Dragon hatch is closed - it is one of two hatches that need to be closed. AlNeyadi will begin getting into his spacesuit shortly.

Other astronauts are exercising as the Crew 6 team prepares for undocking.

1.12pm Sultan AlNeyadi not yet in suit

Mission specialists Sultan AlNeyadi and Andrey Fedyaev are not in their suits yet - they will suit up once hatch is closed.

Pictured below are Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg seated in the spacecraft, with AlNeyadi seen in between.

12.48pm What happens after undocking?

Adnan AlRais, Mission Manager of the UAE Astronaut Programme, gives an overview of what happens as soon as the spacecraft undocks, right up to the the MBRSC team meeting Sultan AlNeyadi and his colleagues at Florida and starting the post-landing plan for rehabilitation.

Salem Humaid AlMarri, Director General, MBRSC, also discussed the upcoming phases awaiting AlNeyadi.

“Once astronaut Sultan Alneyadi returns to Earth our full focus will be on his health adapting to gravity and walking. We will ensure that his muscles, bones and overall wellbeing are taken care of. This period will take between two to three weeks during which he will be staying in a specialized hospital in the USA. A crew from NASA, Space X and MBRSC will be present to ensure that the process goes smoothly.”

He added, “At the same time Sultan will conduct various scientific experiments while on Earth. The goal is detect the differences between the pre-launch phase which occurred in January and February, then the six months spent in space followed by the return phase. Once this phase is completed Sultan will return to the UAE and visit various emirates including schools and universities. This give the UAE audience an opportunity to learn about Sultan’s experience firsthand and ask and ask him any questions they may have.”

12.34pm 'This is not a goodbye'

Around 2.5 hours to go for undocking, and AlNeyadi shares a beautiful message, addressed to space, his followers, and his country.

"Space, this is not a goodbye. I will see you later, whether on a new mission to the ISS or a farther destination.

I thank my beloved country for turning our dreams into achievements and all of you for your trust and affection.

Wish us a safe return. We'll meet soon."

Photo: Twitter

Photo: Twitter

11.34am AlNeyadi's last video from space

Around 3 and a half hours before undocking from the ISS, UAE astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi posts what may be his last video from space.

9.11am Ground teams prepare for AlNeyadi's return

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), pioneering Emirati astronaut Hazzaa AlMansouri reveals that AlNeyadi is set to follow a designated timetable for roughly three weeks upon his return.

AlMansouri tweets “Sultan will have an assigned schedule for approximately three weeks. Dr Hanan along with the doctors here at Nasa and specialised doctors will prepare a schedule for Sultan that suits his health status. Machines aboard the ISS are used to help astronauts stay fit after returning to Earth.”

He adds, “It takes some time to readjust to the gravity environment which can be a gradual process. Sometimes, it takes days or weeks. There is also a second part that involves scientific experiments. We aren’t done yet. Many researchers are interested in studying how humans readapt after returning from Space. They have a database which they use to compare data from former, current or future astronauts and they collect all the information.”

8.40am 'Go' given for undocking

Nasa's commercial crew shares that Nasa and SpaceX teams had given the 'go' for Crew-6 (including Sultan AlNeyadi) to undock from the ISS at 7.05am ET, which is 3.05pm UAE time. The astronauts are set to splashdown on Earth tomorrow, September 4, at 12.17am ET, which is 8.17am UAE time.

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