Weather

Tropical storm Elsa delays Dragon capsule return

NASA announced the delay Tuesday as tropical storm Elsa moves through the middle of the 7 potential splashdown sites off the Florida coast.

Posted 2021-07-07T14:57:10+00:00 - Updated 2021-07-07T14:57:10+00:00

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon is guided by four parachutes as it splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean about 200 miles off Florida’s east coast on March 8, 2019, after returning from the International Space Station on the Demo-1 mission. The uncrewed spacecraft docked to the orbiting laboratory on March 3, following a 2:49 a.m. EST liftoff aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 2. Crew Dragon made 18 orbits of Earth before successfully attaching to the space station. The spacecraft undocked at 2:32 a.m., March 8, splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean at 8:45 a.m. SpaceX’s inaugural flight with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is the first flight test of a space system designed for humans built and operated by a commercial company through a public-private partnership. NASA and SpaceX will use data from Demo-1 to further prepare for Demo-2, the crewed flight test that will carry NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station later this year.

Tony Rice

, NASA Ambassador

NASA announced late Tuesday that the return of the SpaceX cargo freighter, loaded with approximately 5,000 pounds of scientific experiments and other cargo from the International Space Station, would be delayed due to extreme weather around the Florida splashdown zones.

Each of the potential splashdown sites off the Florida coast including: Pensacola, Tampa, Tallahassee, Panama City, Cape Canaveral, Daytona and Jacksonville, are outside of NASA's limits designed to ensure the safety of the recovery teams, the science, and the spacecraft.

Tropical Storm Elsa moves through SpaceX splashdown zones. GOES-east image from 2021-07-07 1406Z

The next opportunity for undocking the CRS-22 capsule is July 8 at 10:35 a.m. EDT, with NASA TV coverage scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Additional opportunities are available on July 9 and 10. Flight controllers then may make the decision to proceed with the landing and splashdown about 1 hours and 20 minutes after a deorbit burn, or remain in orbit for an additional 24-48 hours while conditions improve.

SpaceX capsule recovery criteria

Wind: No greater than 15 ft/sec (10.2 mph)
Rain: < 25% probability
Lightning: > 10 miles and > 25% probability of lightning in protected boundary
Cloud ceiling: < 500 feet
Visibility: No less than 1/2 mile for daylight splashdowns, 1 mile for night
Wave Period & Significant Wave Height: No greater than 7 degrees wave slope. in general, when wave height and wave period are the same, the condition is no-go.