Support teams and curious recreational boaters arrive at the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft shortly after it landed with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley onboard in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020. The Demo-2 test flight for NASA's Commercial Crew Program was the first to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station and return them safely to Earth onboard a commercially built and operated spacecraft. Behnken and Hurley returned after spending 64 days in space. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls) (NASA/Bill Ingalls, (NASA/Bill Ingalls)\r\rFor copyright and restrictions refer to -�http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines/index.html)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The SpaceX spacecraft that made history after successfully completing its first flight with two NASA astronauts is not done yet, it will be refurbished and reflown again.
SpaceX COO Gywnne Shotwell said based on the data from the spacecraft so far and the successful Demo-2 mission, the spacecraft performed well.
“Based on the telemetry, and any visual indications that we’ve had so far, the vehicle looks like it’s in really good shape,” Shotwell told reporters Sunday a few hours after the splashdown.
The Crew Dragon spacecraft was designed to fly on five to 10 missions with maintenance between spaceflights.
Dragon, a once mostly white capsule, looked a little like a well-toasted marshmallow after returning to Earth. The heat shield on the spacecraft absorbed the fiery temperatures and the astronauts inside never got warmer than about 80 degrees, according to SpaceX.
The capsule will be examined by SpaceX and NASA teams once it arrives back at Cape Canaveral.
Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said it will take about four months to refurbish the spacecraft before it can fly astronauts again.
“As soon as it gets back to Area 59 at the Cape, it’ll start going through its maintenance, and NASA is a part of that maintenance ... and we’ll follow along with every step of that maintenance, and also look, re-look at all the certification just to make sure that there’s nothing untoward,” Stich said.
Stich said NASA and SpaceX will first review all of the telemetry for undocking, splashdown and recovery, including life support systems.
The two sets of parachutes used to slow the spacecraft as it comes back to Earth will also be examined. The spacecraft had two drogue parachutes that started slowing the spacecraft and then four main parachutes that deployed before splashdown. Boats were able to recover those on Sunday in the Gulf after the landing.
“SpaceX was doing a great job of recovering those chutes today so we’ll take those back and analyze those, look at it, just to see that they’re performing well,” Stich said Sunday during a post-landing news conference.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft is seen as it lands with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley onboard in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020. The Demo-2 test flight for NASA's Commercial Crew Program was the first to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station and return them safely to Earth onboard a commercially built and operated spacecraft.The parachutes can been seen around the spacecraft in the water. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls) ((NASA/Bill Ingalls)\r\rFor copyright and restrictions refer to -�http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines/index.html)
NASA officials have said developing and testing the parachutes for landing was one of the most difficult aspects for both SpaceX and Boeing as they’ve developed their independent astronaut spacecraft.
Next, SpaceX will take apart Dragon Endeavour to evaluate how the hardware held up during the spaceflight. The spacecraft nose cone, which hosts the docking ring used to connect to the International Space Station, will come off, as well as the heat shield, said Stich.
“Sometimes we can learn things from that and so we’ll do that inspection and then we’ll put all that data together and head into the certification review,” Stich said.
The extensive evaluation of Dragon will help SpaceX earn its final flight certification, giving the spacecraft its final seal of approval from NASA to fly astronauts on the regular.
That final review could happen by the end of August or early September, Sitch said.
The next group set to fly on Dragon Endeavour is made up of two NASA astronauts: a Japanese astronaut and a European astronaut. That launch is known as Crew-2, as the second operational mission for the spacecraft, and is expected sometime in spring 2021.
A different Crew Dragon spacecraft is slated to launch four crew -- three Americans and one Japanese astronauts -- in late September.
NASA astronauts Robert Behnken, left, and Douglas Hurley are seen inside the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship shortly after having landed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Fla., Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020. The Demo-2 test flight for NASA's Commercial Crew Program was the first to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station and return them safely to Earth onboard a commercially built and operated spacecraft. Behnken and Hurley returned after spending 64 days in space. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)SpaceX support teams are deployed on fast boats from the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship ahead of the landing of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley onboard, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020, in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Fla. The Demo-2 test flight for NASA's Commercial Crew Program is the first to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station and return them to Earth onboard a commercially built and operated spacecraft. Behnken and Hurley are returning after spending 64 days in space. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)NASA astronaut and Crew Recovery Chief Shane Kimbrough, left, and NASA Chief Astronaut Pat Forrester watch as SpaceX support teams are deployed on fast boats from the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship ahead of the landing of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley onboard, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020, in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Fla. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)NASA Chief Astronaut Pat Forrester, left, and NASA astronaut and Crew Recovery Chief Shane Kimbrough, along with other NASA and SpaceX support teams onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship, prepare for the landing of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley onboard, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020, in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Fla. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)In this image from video made available by NASA, astronauts Doug Hurley, left, and Bob Behnken prepare for undocking from the International Space Station, aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2020. (NASA via AP)This image from video made available by NASA shows the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, left, before it undocks from the International Space Station on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2020. (NASA via AP)FILE- In this May, 30, 2020 file photo, NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley, left, and Robert Behnken walk out of the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building on their way to Pad 39-A, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Behnken and Hurley riding the Dragon SpaceX capsule are headed toward a splashdown Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020, in the Gulf of Mexico to close out their two-month test flight. It will mark the first splashdown in 45 years for NASA astronauts and the first return in the gulf. Unlike Florida's Atlantic coast, already feeling the effects of Tropical Storm Isaias, the waves and wind were calm near Pensacola in the Florida Panhandle. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)The SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft is lifted onto the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship shortly after it landed with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley onboard in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Fla., Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020. The Demo-2 test flight for NASA's Commercial Crew Program was the first to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station and return them safely to Earth onboard a commercially built and operated spacecraft. Behnken and Hurley returned after spending 64 days in space. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)In this frame grab from NASA TV, the SpaceX capsule is lifted onto a ship, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020 in the Gulf of Mexico. Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken spent a little over two months on the International Space Station. It will mark the first splashdown in 45 years for NASA astronauts and the first time a private company has ferried people from orbit. (NASA TV via AP)NASA astronaut Douglas Hurley waves to onlookers as he boards a plane at Naval Air Station Pensacola to return him and NASA astronaut Robert Behnken home to Houston a few hours after the duo landed in their SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft off the coast of Pensacola, Fla., Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020. The Demo-2 test flight for NASA's Commercial Crew Program was the first to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station and return them safely to Earth onboard a commercially built and operated spacecraft. Behnken and Hurley returned after spending 64 days in space. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)NASA astronaut Robert Behnken gives a thumbs up to onlookers as he boards a plane at Naval Air Station Pensacola to return him and NASA astronaut Douglas Hurley home to Houston a few hours after the duo landed in their SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft off the coast of Pensacola, Fla., Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020. The Demo-2 test flight for NASA's Commercial Crew Program was the first to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station and return them safely to Earth onboard a commercially built and operated spacecraft. Behnken and Hurley returned after spending 64 days in space. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley, left, and Robert Behnken prepare to depart their helicopter at Naval Air Station Pensacola after the duo landed in their SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Fla., Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020. The Demo-2 test flight for NASA's Commercial Crew Program was the first to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station and return them safely to Earth onboard a commercially built and operated spacecraft. Behnken and Hurley returned after spending 64 days in space. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)Support teams and curious recreational boaters arrive at the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft shortly after it landed with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley on board in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Fla., Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020. The Demo-2 test flight for NASA's Commercial Crew Program was the first to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station and return them safely to Earth onboard a commercially built and operated spacecraft. Behnken and Hurley returned after spending 64 days in space. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)In this frame grab from NASA TV, a private boat with a Trump campaign flag goes by the SpaceX capsule after is splashed down Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020 in the Gulf of Mexico. Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken spent a little over two months on the International Space Station. It will mark the first splashdown in 45 years for NASA astronauts and the first time a private company has ferried people from orbit. (NASA TV via AP)Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken prepare to return to earth on a SpaceX capsule, Sunday Aug. 2, 2020. It will mark the first splashdown in 45 years for NASA astronauts and the first return in the gulf. Unlike Florida's Atlantic coast, already feeling the effects of Tropical Storm Isaias, the waves and wind were calm near Pensacola in the Florida Panhandle. (SpaceX via AP)SpaceX support teams are deployed on fast boats from the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship ahead of the landing of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley onboard, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020, in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Fla. The Demo-2 test flight for NASA's Commercial Crew Program is the first to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station and return them to Earth onboard a commercially built and operated spacecraft. Behnken and Hurley are returning after spending 64 days in space. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)
NASA astronauts Robert Behnken, left, and Douglas Hurley are seen inside the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship shortly after having landed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Fla., Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020. The Demo-2 test flight for NASA's Commercial Crew Program was the first to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station and return them safely to Earth onboard a commercially built and operated spacecraft. Behnken and Hurley returned after spending 64 days in space. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)
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