[00:00:00] Speaker 1: My name is Kate Tice, Senior Quality Systems Engineering Manager here at SpaceX, and joining me today from NASA Communications is Sandra Jones.

[00:00:08] Speaker 2: Thanks, Kate. It's always such a pleasure to be here. Upon departing the International Space Station, Dragon underwent a sequence of departure burns. The crew then had a rest period and has since kicked off preparations for reentry, including getting into their spacesuits and successfully performing a leak check. The next phase of the mission is when things will really start to amp up. Dragon has a series of steps to complete before returning Crew-9 home.

[00:00:34] Speaker 1: That's right. First, Dragon will maneuver to the correct attitude and jettison its trunk, which is the cylindrical, unpressurized lower part of the spacecraft. The trunk is currently connected to the aft or bottom section of Dragon, where the heat shield is exposed, or is located, but in order to expose that heat shield and get the vehicle ready for atmospheric reentry, we're gonna jettison that trunk.

[00:00:58] Speaker 2: From there, the spacecraft will use its forward thrusters to perform a deorbit burn, which will put Dragon on a trajectory to return to Earth. This burn will last about seven and a half minutes once it starts. The deorbit burn uses Draco thrusters on Dragon, primarily the four located on the forward bulkhead, and is executed at the apogee, or the highest point of Earth's current orbit around the Earth. This deorbit burn will alter Dragon's path to ultimately line it up to re-enter Earth's atmosphere and splash down off the coast of Florida. Splashdown today is planned for 257 p.m. Pacific or 557 p.m. Eastern.

[00:01:39] Speaker 1: The Crew-9 mission began a little differently than usual since Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams were already aboard the space station when Nick Hague and Alexander Gorbunov arrived in the Crew-9 spacecraft in September. Having arrived as the crew flight test crew for Starliner, Wilmore and Williams were fully incorporated into the space station's Expedition 72 team and began research and other work aboard the station along with the other crew members. Additionally, Williams commanded the orbiting laboratory for much of the expedition.

[00:02:14] Speaker 2: And after a successful liftoff and separation from Falcon 9, Nick and Alexander made a short flight onboard Dragon to the International Space Station in September. Both veterans of long-duration station missions, both Williams and Wilmore, conducted spacewalks during their nine months in space. Having had the capacity to leave the station at any point, had there been some type of emergency, the crew members began packing for their voyage home about a week ago and worked through tasks and shared lessons learned with the newly arrived crew 10 team who arrived just a few days ago.

[00:02:47] Speaker 1: For return operations such as this NASA and SpaceX closely coordinate with the United States Coast Guard to establish a safety zone to ensure public safety and for the safety of those involved in the recovery operations as well as the crew on board the returning spacecraft. Multiple notices are issued to mariners in advance of and during recovery operations and Coast Guard patrol boats are deployed to discourage boaters from entering the splashdown zones.

[00:03:15] Speaker 2: Now we do want to stress to the public the need to respect this safety zone. Recovering a spacecraft from the water is a hazardous task and any other boats interfering increases risk to the astronauts and Dragon, the teams working to recover them from the water and the safety of those that come too close. So for the safety of the crew and your safety we recommend you sit back and watch as we'll be bringing you the best possible views of our astronauts homecoming.

[00:03:41] Speaker 1: And they will be the best views that you can get. So let's take a minute to meet our returning crew. U.S. Space Force Colonel Nick Hague is your crew nine commander. He was selected by NASA as an astronaut in 2013. This was his second space flight to the International Space Station and third launch overall. He spent 171 days in space with Crew 9 and has a career total of 374 days in space. During his mission he completed a spacewalk with astronaut Sonny Williams. That was his fourth spacewalk earning him a career total of 25 hours 56 minutes of spacewalking time. Before Crew 9, Haig previously served as a crew member of Expedition 59 and 60 back in 2019. He flew with Alexei Ovchinin and NASA's Christina Cook. So this is his second time sharing the space station with Ovchinin. The Kansas native is a test pilot of a distinguished and a distinguished graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. Nick spent five months in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He voluntarily transferred from the United States Air Force to U.S. Space Force in 2021 and is an active colonel. His wife Katie is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and they have two sons.

[00:05:05] Speaker 2: NASA astronaut Sunny Williams is a mission specialist for Crew-9. This was her third visit to the space station. She originally launched aboard Boeing Starliner spacecraft and arrived at the space station on June 6th and it looks like like we are beginning to get some views inside the spacecraft overlooking the shoulders of the crew on board Dragon. We'll continue to bring you those views throughout the day and views throughout splashdown this morning or this afternoon rather. But to jump back into a little bit more about Sunny, she became an Expedition 71-72 crew member and she logged 286 days in space on this mission but she actually has a total of 608 days in space. The second most time in space by a U.S. astronaut. Former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson ranks first for the U.S. with 675 days in space. She conducted two spacewalks and has completed nine over the course of her career for a total of 62 hours and six minutes of spacewalking time. She ranks fourth on the list of cumulative time spacewalking by a female astronaut and she has flown on four different spacecraft types, including the space shuttle, Soyuz, Starliner, and now Dragon. Previously, she served on Expedition 14 and 15 in 2006 and 2007, and again with Expedition 32 and 33 in 2012. She's a retired U.S. Navy captain and is a proud graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy.

[00:06:36] Speaker 1: NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore is also serving as a mission specialist today. This is his third spaceflight and, just like Sonny, logged 286 days in space. He conducted one spacewalk and completed five over the course of his career, earning him a total spacewalking time of 21 hours, two minutes. He's flown on four different spacecraft types throughout his career, the Space Shuttle, Soyuz, Starliner, and now Dragon. Previously, the Mount Juliet, Tennessee native served on STS-129 in 2009 and Expedition 41 and 42 from 2014 to 2015. Wilmore is also retired a retired captain in the US Navy.

[00:07:20] Speaker 2: And Alexander Gorbunov is a third mission specialist serving on today's mission. Crew 9 was his very first spaceflight to the space station earning him a total of 171 days and space over the course of his career. Gorbunov, along with Nick Haig, saw the arrival of four visiting vehicles and saw the departure of four as well. The duo orbited the Earth more than 2,700 times during their mission. Before his cosmonaut selection in 2018, Gorbunov worked as an engineer for a rocket space corporation and helped support cargo spacecraft launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

[00:08:01] Speaker 1: To prepare for upcoming events, Dragon is currently doing a couple of things autonomously. First, it's isolating the thermal control system fluid loops from the radiator. This system is what will help keep the internal temperature of Dragon very comfortable for Nick, Sonny, Butch, and Alexander during the reentry phase. Dragon is also initiating separation of the claw mechanism, which will terminate data, power, and fluid connections between the spacecraft and the trunk in preparation for that trunk separation that I mentioned earlier. Now, as we saw before, we are hoping to get more views inside of the Dragon capsule. We will bring those. Of course, we want to see more of our four crew members, but now a bit more of the Dragon Freedom capsule. It has flown on several missions for NASA. It first launched April 27th, 2022 to the International Space Station on NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 mission. It was subsequently used for two private spaceflight missions to the space station for Axiom Space, Axiom Mission-2 in May 2023 and Axiom Mission-3 in January of 2024. And of course, Crew-9 launched last year, September 28th. So, yeah, a little bit about the Dragon Freedom capsule here, a view that we have, once again, between the shoulders of Commander Nick Hague, who is on the left-hand side of your screen there, and Mission Specialist Alexander Gorbunov there on the right.

[00:09:38] Speaker 2: That's right, Kate. And the next major milestone that we're looking ahead towards this afternoon is claw separation. We're targeting that claw separation at 2.05 p.m. Pacific time this afternoon. So less than 10 minutes from now, continuing to get some views inside Dragon Freedom. To the far left there is NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore. And as you can see, the crew is suited up in their space suits. They are suited up in what we call dynamic phases of flight. So when they launch, when they dock, when they undock, when they return back for splashdown, we might hear some callouts on the loops about putting their visors down. That will happen just prior to de-orbit burn and you'll hear us pause when some of those communications happen that's because we want to make sure that we are relaying the best information to you all and so that you hear it as well. So if you do hear us pause that that is that is what we're doing. You also see they have their on there and I know the gloves are pretty unique on the Dragon spacesuits right they're custom created?

[00:10:34] Speaker 1: Yes the spacesuits overall is custom fit for each astronaut. These gloves enable usage of the touchscreen panels that they have in front of them. We can't see it from this view but that view we saw earlier between Alexander Gorbunov and Nick Haig, that is a touchscreen. It allows the crew to monitor everything that Dragon is doing along with those tablets that they have there on their legs. So yeah, the the spacesuit itself is intended to act as a a mini spaceship, if you will, as once the visors are closed, it is able to maintain a pressure in the unlikely event of a depressurization event for Dragon. So there we can see those screens I was talking about. So there in the center, we've got the location tracker, as well as on the left-hand side. It's mapping out the operations that Dragon is executing. The crew has to remain well-informed of all these things that Dragon is doing autonomously. That basically means that Dragon is flying itself. The crew has the ability to gain control of the capsule if necessary, but the capsule is essentially going to bring itself home. But, of course, in order to be familiar with... Freedom, SpaceX.

[00:11:54] Speaker 2: Do your orbit sequence start in five minutes. Freedom, capsule. and doing the majority of the communications during the flight downhill today through splashdown and they'll be communicating with the core all along the way. Now we did mention that they are flying on Crew Dragon Freedom. The naming of spacecraft has gone all the way back to the very beginning of this human spaceflight program. This is a nod to Alan Shepard naming his spacecraft Freedom 7 during the Mercury program. And so the crew that first flew up on Freedom a few years ago had the opportunity to name this dragon and they named it Freedom. That was Crew 4 that was the first flyers on this spacecraft. It's also flown for Axiom Mission 2 and 3. And then of course today for Crew 9 as well.

[00:13:02] Speaker 1: Yeah, actually fun fact about this particular capsule of those four missions that Sandra just mentioned, we have seen daytime splashdowns for two of those today will mark the third of the third daytime splashdown so there's something lucky about this particular capsule that gets daytime splashdowns. Nighttime is great because we can see even more clearly the capsule streaking through but I personally love the daylight views because we really get even better views of the recovery team operations during that phase of the mission.

[00:13:37] Speaker 2: Yes absolutely and if you follow along with our missions you'll know that sometimes weather is a watch item when it comes to undocking and splash down we just splash down in the water so we want to ensure that parameters like wave heights and and wind speeds and precipitation lightning all of that is looking good for the crew and the safety of those recovery personnel and today the weather is just pristine we got off of space station on the very first attempt so I'm joking around and saying that it was because it was St. Patrick's day and we got really lucky with the weather.

[00:14:06] Speaker 1: I wouldn't disagree with that. Speaking of weather, we will be hearing from CORE probably around 2.20-ish. Typically before we enter the period of loss of signal or LOS, we will hear an entry briefing from the CORE, the Crew Operations resource engineer and they will deliver important information like updated anticipated splashdown and loss of signal times to the crew as well as the wave height and wind speed so we'll be standing by to listen in on those like I said that will happen shortly after typically after trunk separation I can't quite remember if it's before after deorbit burn must be before but in any case we'll be hearing all of that coming from core in fact that individual is seated there in the room on your screen that is spacex mission control in hawthorne california that room is located just over our shoulders and that is where dragon operators are standing by on console monitoring the progress of dragon as it continues its way home it it's been uh at the point of splash it'll be about 17 hours since Dragon undocked from the International Space Station the team there in mission mission control There are multiple teams in fact and they cycle through shifts to ensure that everybody gets the required rest and sleep periods just like the astronauts on board and That crew operations and resource engineer is seated there in the room and that like Sandra said is the primary voice that we'll be hearing communicate from the SpaceX team to the crew on board.

[00:15:58] Speaker 2: That's right and so it looks like we're about three minutes or so from the claw separation portion of today's flight. The claw is a portion on the spacecraft that holds the trunk to Dragon. Following claw separation we're going to jettison or remove that trunk because it's no longer needed. The trunk has solar rays on it that provides power to the Dragon spacecraft but now that we're beginning you in many ways And so we did just get communications there that the deorbit sequence start has begun. So here in just a couple minutes from now we expect to hear information or a call back about the claw separation having begun. And again that kicks off that trunk separation portion that I was discussing to remove that expose the heat shield, and then eventually we'll have the deorbit burn, and we'll continue to walk you through all of these milestones as we approach them ahead of our splashdown at 2.57 p.m. Pacific time this afternoon off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida.

[00:17:25] Speaker 1: Yeah, we're very excited to bring the Crew 9 crew home. Sandra, we were talking about the trunk separation. trunk is on a trajectory that will re-enter in the atmosphere and break up upon that re-entry. The heat shield itself is one of my favorite parts of the Dragon capsule. It is the workhorse of the re-entry phase. It will work to protect the Dragon capsule and the crew members on board during the re-entry phase as the temperatures outside of the capsule build up to I believe about 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit in excess of and meanwhile the interior of Dragon stays a very comfortable temperature. That heat shield does a lot of the work and we'll see that plasma build up on the exterior of the capsule. As a result of the plasma that builds up we will lose communications with the crew. This is known as loss of signal or LOS. This is roughly a 10-minute period on average, even less than I believe today. It is probably about six or seven minutes long. It kind of depends on the mission and it happens for every Dragon capsule that re-enters the atmosphere. Due to that plasma buildup, we're not able to communicate or command the capsule so we stand by while we wait to regain communication after we pass through that period of loss of signal and get what's known as AOS or acquisition of signal.

[00:19:02] Speaker 2: So continuing to stand by for claw separation and then we'll look towards trunk separation. It'll be just about a minute or so after that. That happens pretty rapidly in succession. Some Some of our milestones will take a little bit longer throughout the day. For example, we will have a de-orbit burn after that that will take about seven and a half minutes and helps get Dragon set up in the right trajectory to splash JetBone in the Gulf off the coast of Florida. So continuing to stand by for claw separation.

[00:20:00] Speaker 1: All right. Great news there. That trunk has been jettisoned from the Dragon capsule. So the cloth was separated, that's the mechanism that connects the telemetry and power between dragon capsule and the trunk in order to expose the heat shield underneath dragon we had to jettison that trunk and we just got confirmation that that has happened so that is great news basically means that telemetry is looking good and that the nitrox system is primed for cabin and suit cooling and the heat shield like I said is now exposed and ready for atmospheric reentry the trunk served its purpose by gathering energy from the sun through its solar cells and converting that to battery power. Since we separated the trunk we can't generate any more new power but we really don't need to since we're coming home and Dragon has enough battery power already stored. Now up next the final steps that Dragon will perform prior to re-entry. The slew or the maneuver to deorbit burn attitude and then the deorbit burn itself.

[00:21:08] Speaker 2: This deorbit burn is the last time that As we mentioned, it's going to last about seven and a half minutes, again, helping to get Dragon into the precise trajectory to ensure that splashdown occurs in the area that was calculated and where the recovery team is already in place, ready to support splashdown operations today, the recovery vessel Megan is the the ship that is going to be utilized today. and we also have what is called fast boats that go out first to check the spacecraft and make sure everything is looking good before the recovery vessel Megan approaches. So that whole recovery process takes about an hour I would say from the time the crew splashes down to the time they're on the boat and the crew gets out of the capsule and we'll continue to bring you live coverage through every step of the way today as Crew 9 returns home.

[00:22:29] Speaker 1: Indeed now let's take a little bit of a closer look at Dragon. One of the great things about being close to the space station is that we can use space station cameras to look at Dragon, but now that Dragon is on its way home we don't have those external cameras. So here's an animation of what the capsule looks like. We've got the pressurized section, the capsule on the top, and the trunk or the unpressurized section on the bottom. That's where those solar panels that we manufacture in-house are located, soaking up the energy from the Sun and turning it into power for the capsule. At the very top of the capsule is the nose cone that is where the Dracos, the forward Dracos, are located. That nose cone is currently open, not closed like we saw in that animation. Once we get through the the final maneuverings for the re-entry phase, we will close the the nose cone capsule just before Dragon begins its atmospheric entry to protect that forward hatch there located along with those forward Dracos. So go ahead.

[00:23:34] Speaker 2: That's right I was going to mention that the nose cone does open shortly after launch and it remains open the entire time that Dragon is docked to the International Space Station. So as an example for this particular spacecraft, Freedom, since September when it docked to the International Space Station remains open that entire time and here shortly it will close for the very first time since September.

[00:23:56] Speaker 1: So quick recap of of what Dragon has done in recent history here. We basically began preparations for re-entry known as the de-orbit sequence. So Dragon released the trunk. As we said before, we separated the claw, we released the trunk. It next will slew to the de-orbit burn attitude. Slew basically meaning maneuver. So it will position itself correctly to execute that due orbit burn. We want the heat shield side to be facing forward or first, if you will. We want that to be the leading edge of the Dragon Capsule as that heat shield is meant to basically be an ablative material for the heat that it will incur. Once we complete that due orbit burn attitude slew, we will initiate the due orbit burn itself. That will last for several minutes.

[00:24:54] Speaker 2: expecting that to be to start here any moment now actually and that it will go until about 2 18 p.m. Pacific Time or or 5 18 p.m. Eastern Time and I did hear confirmation that that deorbit burn is underway as we mentioned it's about a seven and a half minute burn so within the last ten minutes dragon has jettisoned its trunk and initiated the deorbit burn just seconds ago as As mentioned earlier, for those operations, NASA and SpaceX closely coordinate with the United States Coast Guard to establish a safety zone to ensure public safety and for the safety of those involved in the recovery operations, as well as the crew on board the returning spacecraft. multiple notices are issued to the mariners in advance of and during recovery operations and Coast Guard patrol boats are deployed to discourage boaters from entering the spacecraft the splashdown zones so we do want to stress to the public that need to respect this safety zone recovering a spacecraft from the water is a hazardous operation and any other boats interfering increases the risk to not only the astronauts in Dragon but the team's working to recover them from the water and the safety of those that may come too close. So for the safety of the crew, which you see there on your screen, your safety, we recommend you sit back and watch as we'll continue to bring you the best possible views of our astronauts homecoming.

[00:26:20] Speaker 1: Yeah, as I mentioned earlier, this deorbit burn is the last time that we will utilize our four forward Draco thrusters. Forward basically meaning at the top of the Dragon capsule. Dragon Freedom has not yet entered the Earth's atmosphere. This This deorbit burn is what will line the vehicle up and put it on its final trajectory to the landing site right off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida. So basically, it is the last burn that the Dragon spacecraft executes and is what really locks it in for that precise landing. As you can see on your screen right now, Nick, Sonny, Butch, and Alexander are using their screens to keep tabs on the burn duration, the Draco firings, and trajectory details such as entry angle, spacecraft perigee, and how much distance remains until orbit burn termination. As I mentioned earlier, Dragon is flying itself, so all the crew has to do is stay strapped into their seats and keep tabs on things. Although I must say, if I had one of those window seats, It would be pretty difficult to restrain myself. Now with Nick, Sonny, Butch, and Alexander ready to deorbit and splashdown back on Earth, they will be heading to one of eight targeted sites supported by SpaceX and NASA. All of these sites are located off the coast of Florida, either in the Gulf of America or the Atlantic Ocean. Spreading the supported sites across multiple locations helps maximize the return opportunities for this mission and future crews, lowering the chance that we'll have to wave off due to bad weather. For those of you following along, you'll know that today's splashdown marks our final Dragon recovery on the East Coast. After six great years of successful recovery operations off the East Coast, we'll be moving all Dragon recovery operations back to the West Coast.

[00:28:20] Speaker 2: And as always, NASA and SpaceX jointly select our splashdown location. And for today, the prime recovery site is off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida. The selection process works with a lot of different variables, including the space station's orbital trajectory or path that it follows, what landing sites are available and have favorable weather, how much free flight capability Dragon has for the trip home, and the sleep schedules for the returning crew members, as well as, of course, the big one, the weather.

[00:28:49] Speaker 1: We'll start with calculating daily return options based off of the space station's current orbit and Dragon's capabilities to maneuver and line up for reentry. The time from undock to landing at the primary site can vary from less than six hours to more than 39. Getting home the quickest comes with some obvious benefits, but we always have to make sure the crew is properly rested for dynamic operations, preventing us from scheduling 20 plus hour days for them, of course. and ballistic experts provide the daily opportunities that would line up Dragon with the seven landing zones and split them into what we call ascending and descending opportunities.

[00:29:31] Speaker 2: Dragon uses its Draco thrusters after leaving station to execute a series of altitude lowering maneuvers and to line up with a selected primary site. It can also change to different alternative sites while in a free flight if sudden weather moves in that we may need to avoid. So as we mentioned weather is something we're constantly looking at, making the final call to proceed about two and a half hours before the crew undocks. So for the Crew 9 return, we looked at a number of weather items. Some of the obvious ones are no rain or a chance of lightning in the recovery zone, both for the safety of the crew inside Dragon and the recovery teams in the water. And we're also looking for wind speeds to be less than 15 feet per second or about 10 miles per hour and relatively calm seas so that we can safely execute recovery operations, which includes landing a helicopter on the recovery ship to fly Nick, Sonny, Butch, and Alexander back to Florida. Once Dragon began flying today, we had a number of additional checkpoints to either proceed towards the primary site, head to the alternate, or select a new zone based on real-time weather data. These checks happened all the way up until we were in the final hours before the deorbit burn which has just about a minute or so left in it and this is the last burn in the trip home that commits Dragon to re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.

[00:30:53] Speaker 1: Now we are currently waiting to conclude the deorbit burn. We've got less than a minute until that finishes. We will expect to hear a call out for nominal burn which will confirm completion of that de-orbit burn for Dragon Freedom. We can see images there from the touchscreen display panels that the crew utilizes in flight. We can see the visualization of exactly which one of the four forward Draco thrusters are firing. That's why you have kind of like a strobe effect there.

[00:31:37] Speaker 2: And if you're just joining us, you are looking at live views of the Dragon Freedom. On your left is Commander of Crew 9, Nick Kague. To his right is Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grabenkin. And on also in Gorbunov, excuse me, that is Alexander Gorbunov. And then also in the capsule today is NASA astronaut Sonny Williams and Butch Wilmore. awaiting confirmation that their deorbit burn is complete which is a the last burn that's going to help set them up on a trajectory to splash down off the coast of Florida. Deorbit burn complete.

[00:32:13] Speaker 3: Performance nominal. Nose cone closure initiated.

[00:32:22] Speaker 1: All right, excellent news there. We heard the words we were looking for, nominal burn so that means that that deorbit burn was successful and nominal meaning as expected and we're now beginning to close the nose cone in preparation for atmospheric re-entry.

[00:32:42] Speaker 2: So in the background Dragon is currently inhibiting those forward bulkhead Draco thrusters that we just used to complete the deorbit burn ensuring it's safe to latch the nose cone shut for re-entry. Also, the vehicle has initiated the Nitrox suit purge, which will help keep Nick, Sonny, Butch, and Alexander cool and comfortable during re-entry, which is coming up in about 20 minutes from now. At this point, the nose cone is closing and protecting the forward hatch for re-entry, and the crew are using their screens to continue to monitor the locking of the nose cone, which is done by a set of hooks. And as we mentioned earlier, that nose cone has remained open since September, so this is the first time it's closing in a few months.

[00:33:23] Speaker 1: Yeah, that's absolutely right. Now, we will be expecting, as I mentioned before, an entry brief from SpaceX core. Again, that's the crew operations resource engineer who is seated in that room that you see there on your screen. That entry brief will provide updated times for anticipated splashdown, as well as the loss of signal or a period of LOS. That briefing will also give us information such as wind speed and wave height at the expected splashdown location. But all in all, everything has been great today. All events have been executed on time as expected, and we are looking forward to a splashdown of the Crew 9 crew at about 5 57 p.m eastern time or 2 57 p.m pacific time between now and then it's things are going to start moving quite quickly in fact if if anything this will have seemed like the slower part of the re-entry phase we're going to go through like i said that period of loss of signal or LOS. That period is a few minutes long where we are unable to communicate or command the capsule due to the plasma that builds up on the exterior of the capsule. That period, like I said, lasts for a couple minutes. You will start to hear SpaceX core hail the Crew 9 crew a little bit earlier than expected because we, in the past, have actually regained communications a couple minutes earlier than initially anticipated. So we'll go through that period of loss of signal, that entry period, that specifically when the Dragon spacecraft is reentering through the atmosphere. Approximately at about 18,000 feet, when the capsule is traveling at 350 miles per hour, we will see our first views of parachutes for the day. one of my favorite moments of of return sequences is when we get to see the drogue parachutes. We'll see the drogues come out. Those drogues will help slow the vehicle down to about 119 miles per hour and then that is when the main parachutes will will will come out from the from the Dragon spacecraft and then ultimately end in Sposhdome.

[00:35:52] Speaker 2: And we are hearing confirmation that the nose cone is closed and everything was nominal or as expected with that closure. So as we begin the second half of entry, Dragon is now beginning to inject cooled nitrox into the air being delivered to the spacesuits worn by Nick, Sonny, Butch, and Alexander. Again, this is what will allow the crew to remain comfortable while external temperatures reach 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit as they re-enter the Earth's atmosphere. So the heat shield is pointing forward, leading Dragon to the landing site.

[00:36:27] Speaker 1: Yeah, now speaking of the heat shield, Dragon's primary heat shield is comprised of PICA 3.0, which stands for phenolic impregnated carbon ablator. The first-gen PICA was initially developed by NASA for studying and sampling comets within our solar system.

[00:36:45] Speaker 2: SpaceX partnered with NASA to develop Pika X, which was the second generation product used on all Dragon 1 cargo resupply service missions that resupplied the International Space Station on 20 missions. Pika 3.0 was developed specifically for use on Dragon 2 crew and cargo with enhanced structural and thermal capabilities that allowed the heat shield to be even more effective in the way that it utilized the ability to make that heat oblivate as it goes through the Earth's atmosphere.

[00:37:37] Speaker 1: The remainder of Dragon is composed primarily of a SpaceX proprietary ablative material. It's another class of thermal protection which is lighter weight versus PICA and protects the underlying composite structure during re-entry to ensure the structural capabilities are maintained.

[00:37:56] Speaker 2: Wall Dragon will experience temperatures well over 3,000 degrees during peak re-entry conditions. The characteristics of the thermal protection system coupled with the environmental control and life support system in the pressurized interior will ensure that Nick, Sonny, Butch, and Alexander stay cool and comfortable during all phases of re-entry through splashdown.

[00:38:18] Speaker 1: Now if you've just recently joined us, we hope to regain views of our crew members inside Dragon Freedom, but we don't have those available at the moment due to ground station coverage, so we will bring those back to you as soon as we can. Now after Dragon Freedom has re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, a series of parachutes will deploy to slow the crew's descent. First will be the two drogue parachutes followed by the four main parachutes and those will guide Dragon to its first contact with Earth since it launched back in September. Dragon will automatically deploy these parachutes when different pressure and positioning sensors on the spacecraft detect that they're at the right speed and altitude.

[00:39:05] Speaker 2: vehicle velocity at drogue deploy is approximately 350 miles per hour and they deploy at about 18,000 feet. Now when the vehicle velocity at main deploy is approximately 119 miles per hour and they deploy at about 6,500 feet. When Dragon splashes down in the water the vehicle velocity will be about 16 miles per hour so you can really see how those parachutes help to slow down the crew inside the capsule. The highest g-load the crew is expected to experience today is about three to five G's.

[00:39:37] Speaker 1: Yeah when you think about really fun roller coasters they're about in that range so I'm sure that our crew on board will be well-equipped to to experience those G's. It's nothing for them they go through much more intense training.

[00:39:55] Speaker 2: And so we are continuing to make our way through a number of milestones today. We did have trunk separation.

[00:40:02] Speaker 3: Freedom SpaceX nose The nose cone is secure for entry.

[00:40:16] Speaker 1: All right. Great news there. That tells us that the final physical configuration change for Dragon is complete. We have closed that nose cone. This is the last physical change that Dragon undergoes prior to re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. It's important that that nose cone is completely closed because underneath it is not only where the four forward Draco thrusters are located, but it's also because that is where the forward hatch is located. That is the hatch that is utilized for the crew to ingress and egress from the station while it is docked on board. since our capsules are flight proven and we reuse them on future space flights, we want to make sure that all of the integrity of that hardware remains intact. So that nose cone is successfully closed, and we're going to start moving pretty quickly here. As I mentioned before, we'll go through loss of signal, we'll get that signal back several minutes later, and then we'll see the parachute action.

[00:41:23] Speaker 2: And then that's all ahead of splashdown off the coast of Florida. We're targeting Tallahassee as our splashdown zone today at 2.57 p.m. Pacific time this afternoon. Now, you did mention the call to the crew. They'll do some additional calculations following that burn and potentially let us know if that splashdown time has changed at all. But right now, we are continuing to target 2.57 p.m. And you can see there on your screen a path of where Dragon will be reentering today. So if you are in the southern tip of Mexico, you might have the opportunity to see Dragon. Because it's a daytime splashdown, you probably won't have too great of views, but potentially you'll have the opportunity to get a glimpse of it there.

[00:42:09] Speaker 1: Once again, Dragon operators, they're monitoring the progress of Dragon through this reentry phase that is SpaceX Mission Control located here in Hawthorne, California. is also where the crew operations and resource engineer is seated. That person is the voice that we have heard multiple times and will continue to hear as the primary point of contact to the crew on board Dragon Freedom. We will also hear the voice of Commander Nick Haig. Basically, after we hear the Corps communicate something, we will hear Nick Haig indicate that they copy, that they heard the message well, some sort of recognition that the message was received.

[00:43:01] Speaker 2: And if you joined us yesterday for our coverage during the undocking, we were communicating through something that's called a big loop. We do that when we're in integrated operations with Freedom, SpaceX, for entry sequence, report when ready to copy.

[00:43:24] Speaker 3: All right, I've got some updated times for you. Our comm blackout start time is 2144. Our comm blackout end time is 2-1-5-1, and our splashdown time is the same per your displays, 2-1-5-7.

[00:43:49] Speaker 4: Okay, understanding comm blackout, start 21-44, stop 21-51, splashdown per display.

[00:44:00] Speaker 3: That's a good read back. And with that, please report when tablets are secured behind the elastic bands, restraints are tight, and visors are down.

[00:44:25] Speaker 2: And with that communication from the core or crew operations resource engineer here in Hawthorne to Commander Nick Haig of Crew Dragon Freedom, we did hear that the loss of signal period is still at 2 44 p.m pacific but we had a one minute adjustment to the acquisition of signal that's going to now be at 2 51 p.m pacific time however our splash down time remains the same at 2 57 p.m pacific time this afternoon off the coast of tallahassee florida so all good news there as dragon continues to make its way home with the crew 9 crew as we mentioned before we are splashing down on the Gulf Coast.

[00:45:05] Speaker 1: We have ability to splash down on either side of Florida, but the location site just outside of Tallahassee, Florida is the site that was selected today due to best recovery conditions. And as Sandra mentioned before, weather is always a watch item, but everything is looking great for that particular recovery location. So I'm sure once we start getting views from the recovery vessel. I have a feeling it's going to be a pretty beautiful afternoon.

[00:45:38] Speaker 2: And we did mention that of course this is a daylight splashdown so we should be getting some great views. We do have a couple of spacecraft called the WB-57 which are high-altitude planes that NASA utilizes during splashdown operations. Those are those who are in route and going to be tracking the capsule as it makes its way through with the atmosphere and should be providing some good views for us. Kate and I were just chatting about how we haven't had a daytime splashdown in a little while, so we're looking forward to the views along with you.

[00:46:06] Speaker 1: Yeah, nighttime views are also great because we can see that capsule streaking through the night sky quite brightly. So like Sandra you said earlier, daylight will be a little bit less bright, but we will definitely be able to see the SpaceX recovery team operations much clearer. I could also imagine it's probably a little bit easier for the team themselves to do their work in daytime than at nighttime. We'll see them rush in really quickly with a couple of fast boats as they begin the initial safety checks and sweeps of the Dragon capsule while also retrieving the parachutes from the surface of the ocean. The recovery vessel, the main recovery vessel will continue to make its way closer to the dragon capsule. It is stationed a couple miles away from the actual recovery location, the splashdown location, for obvious safety purposes. So it takes a little while for that vessel to make its way over, but once it's closer, we'll have even better views of those recovery operations.

[00:47:13] Speaker 2: And you may be wondering why sometimes we splash down in the daytime versus the nighttime, and believe me we would all love for these operations to happen during regular daytime working hours but unfortunately orbital mechanics just doesn't quite work out that way so it has to deal with the location of the international space station as well as where the splashdown zone is on earth and that trajectory as well as the phasing so as we mentioned earlier sometimes we have phasing as short as six hours sometimes in excess of 30 plus hours it just depends on where the targeted area is that the capsule is going to splash down. So today's phasing has been 17 hours since undocking occurred at 10.05 p.m pacific. Yesterday evening for us here in Hawthorne early early wee hours for folks on the east coast and other areas of the United States.

[00:48:04] Speaker 1: Yeah but regardless of whether it's daytime or nighttime the SpaceX recovery team has trained and practice and rehearsed for it all. So regardless of daylight, they are really efficient with those operations. But like you said, Sandra, it has been a minute since we have seen a daytime splashdown on a NASA SpaceX crew mission. The last daytime recovery was on crew four, which was the debut flight for the capsule flying today, the spacecraft known as Dragon Freedom. And so yeah, kind of a fun fact there in terms of the timing of that daylight splashdowns. Once again, standing by for more communication with the crew. The next event that we have coming up is the start of that period known as loss of signal. of signal. That is the period still expected at 2.44 p.m. Pacific time. This lasts for several minutes while the capsule is making its way through the Earth's atmosphere. The heat shield located at the bottom of the capsule, really doing all the work at that point in time in terms of using the atmosphere to slow the capsule down from its orbital speeds of 17,500 miles per hour tablets are secure restraints are tightened visors down we are configured for entry freedom I copied tablets are secured restraints are tight and visors down All right. Great news there in terms of continuing to make progress. That back-and-forth communication we heard was just letting CORE know that per their instructions, Crew 9 has now put away everything that was necessary in order to begin the reentry, that were located on their legs. Those are now stowed away. They've tightened that that safety harness that we see there and the visors are now down. So with all that being said, let's take a minute to meet our returning crew US Space Force Colonel Nick Hague is your crew 9 commander. He was selected by NASA as an astronaut in 2013. This was his second spaceflight to the International Space Station and third launch overall. He spent 171 days in space with Crew 9 and has a career total of 374 days in space. During his mission, he completed a spacewalk with astronaut Sonny Williams. That was his fourth spacewalk, earning him a career total of 25 hours, 56 minutes of spacewalking time. Before Crew 9, Haig previously served as a crew member of Expedition 59 and 60 back in 2019. He flew with Alexei Ovchinin and NASA's Christina Koch. So this is his second time sharing the space station with Ovchinin. The Kansas native is a test pilot and distinguished graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. Nick spent five months in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He voluntarily transferred from the United States Air Force to US Space Force in 2021 and is an active colonel. His wife, Katie, is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, and they have two sons.

[00:51:51] Speaker 2: NASA astronaut Sonny Williams is a mission specialist for Crew-9. This was her third visit to the International Space Station. She originally launched aboard Boeing Starliner spacecraft and arrived at the space station on June 6th. Following the agency's decision to return Starliner uncrewed, she became an Expedition 71 and 72 crew member, where she logged 286 days in space on this mission. But Sunny has a total of 608 days in space, the second most time in space by a U.S. astronaut.

[00:52:27] Speaker 3: Five minutes until predicted comm blackout. We'll see you on the other side at 2151.

[00:52:31] Speaker 5: 2151, talk to you soon.

[00:52:43] Speaker 2: And with that call out from the crew operations resource engineer to Commander Nick Hague, letting them know that everything is looking good ahead of the loss of signal period. We will see the crew on the other side of the loss of signal period at 2.51 p.m. Pacific time this afternoon. Continuing on about Sonny Williams, who has a total of 608 days in space, the second most time in space by a U.S. astronaut. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson actually ranks first for the U.S. with 675 days in space. Sunny conducted two spacewalks and has completed nine over the course of her career for a total of 62 hours, six minutes of spacewalking time. She ranks fourth on the list of cumulative time spacewalking by a female astronaut, and she has flown on four different spacecraft types including the Space Shuttle, Soyuz, Starliner and now Dragon. Previously she served on Expedition 14 and 15 in 2006 and 2007 and again with Expedition 32 and 33 in 2012. She's a retired U.S. Navy captain and is a proud graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and was the first astronaut to run a marathon in space.

[00:54:03] Speaker 1: it's pretty awesome stuff. Now, NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore is also surfing as a mission specialist today. This is his third space flight, and just like Sonny, logged 286 days in space. He conducted one spacewalk and completed five over the course of his career, earning him a total spacewalking time of 21 hours and two minutes. He's flown on four different spacecraft types throughout his career. The Space Shuttle, Soyuz, Starliner, and now Dragon. Previously, the Mount Juliet, Tennessee native served on STS-129 in 2009 and Expedition 41 and 42 from 2014 to 2015. Wilmore is also a retired captain in the U.S. Navy.

[00:54:49] Speaker 2: Next up is Alexander Gorbunov, who is a third mission specialist serving on today's mission. Crew 9 was his first space flight to the space station, earning him a total of 171 days in space over the course of his career. Gorbunov, along with Nick Haig, saw the arrival of four visiting vehicles and saw the departure of four as well. The duo orbited the Earth more than 2,700 times since September. Before his cosmonaut selection in 2018, Gorbunov worked as an engineer for a rocket space corporation and helped support cargo spacecraft launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. So if you are just joining us we are continuing to bring you live coverage of Crew 9's return to Earth following their mission aboard the International Space Station where they completed science and research investigations.

[00:55:49] Speaker 1: We are targeting splashdown off the coast of Florida at 2 57 p.m. Pacific time the next major milestone that we'll look ahead towards is what we call loss of signal or LOS when we won't have communications with the crew because they will be re-entering the Earth's atmosphere and during this process there is plasma that builds up around that heat shield so we are not able to communicate with the crew but we are anticipating to regain communications with the crew at a short time from now at 2 51 p.m. pacific time today as we said before everything continues to look good for the return of the crew 9 team we are about to go into that period of loss of signal once we get views of the crew inside the capsule once again we will be sure to bring those to you, but that period of time is when plasma is building up on the exterior of the capsule, generating heat in excess of 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit, so we are unable to communicate or command the spacecraft at that time, and that includes, unfortunately, video feeds as well. So as soon as we get the views back inside Dragon, we will bring those to you. But until then, we are going to to stand by and continue to monitor the progress of Dragon. Like Sandra just said, we are anticipating the blackout period to begin at 2.51 PM Pacific time, 5.51 PM Eastern time. This will last for several minutes. It's not super exact, even though we are predicting acquisition of signal or AOS to come back at 5.51 PM Eastern time. In the past, we have regained communication to be a little bit earlier than that. So we'll probably start to hear Corps begin to hail Crew Dragon a minute or two prior to that anticipated acquisition of signal. But right now, Nick, Sonny, Butch, and Alexander are seated in their seats inside Dragon Freedom. Their visors are down and they have put away or stored the tablets they had located on to monitor Dragon's progress. Now they will be utilizing the touchscreen displays where the current operation and future operations will be displayed as they are able to monitor Dragon's progress continually. As I said before, Dragon is autonomous, meaning it is flying itself. So the crew stands by and monitors and those touchscreen displays are what will be allowing them to do so and prepare for events such as parachute deploy.

[00:58:44] Speaker 2: And while on board the International Space Station, Nick, Sonny, Butch, and Alexander contributed to over 900 hours of science and research investigations, which is really the key purpose of the International Space Station. Now, the International Space Station is celebrating a major milestone this year where they will be celebrating 25 years of continuous human presence in November. So if you're younger than 25 years, you've never known a day where there hasn't been a human living and working aboard the International Space Station contributing to key science and research investigations that impact our lives here on Earth. There's research being done on Parkinson's, on osteoporosis, on cancer research, and a variety of other studies. Additionally, the microgravity laboratory provides a jumping-off point for us as we venture back to the moon and on to Mars through longer duration space flights. One such example that the crew worked on during this mission was a alternative exercise device. In microgravity, the crew has to exercise for about two hours a day because they're not having the effects of gravity on their body. So to prevent bone and muscle loss, we counteract that with two hours of exercise per day. On board the International Space Station, they have three ways in which they can exercise. They have a bike, they have a treadmill, and they have a similar to a weightlifting machine that counteracts the microgravity environment. But a particular experiment that this crew tested out was a combination of all three of those in one smaller device. And this is really critical as we continue on to the moon, Mars, and beyond because space is really important in spacecraft. So if we have something smaller that the crew might be able to utilize, that can potentially help us venture out even further into the solar system. So science is really the name of the game when it comes to the International Space Station. Some of the other science highlights that took place during this increment that are particularly interesting to me was we had the first wooden satellite that was deployed. This is a study to see if other materials might be more resourceful or renewable in space. So I'm really excited to see the results of that one as well. Additionally, we had a couple of spacewalks that took place to not only provide maintenance to the International Space Station, but also where we swab the outside of the space station near vents to see if any microbes that, we all have microbes on us, to see if any of those could survive in the harsh environment of space, which again is very important for us to know and understand as we continue to the moon, Mars, and beyond.

[01:01:20] Speaker 1: Very exciting stuff. Now, at this point, we have now entered the communications blackout period for the Dragon spacecraft. This lasts approximately seven minutes due to plasma formation around the spacecraft itself. During this time, no vehicle telemetry is received by mission control or the recovery team and no external commanding of the vehicle or voice communication is possible. But as a reminder, Dragon is designed to fly itself. During reentry, the vehicle will be slowing down from orbital velocity, which is approximately 17,500 miles per hour. The top temperature that Dragon will experience upon re-entry is 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit. This blackout period, as I said before, we expect it to last about seven minutes today, concluding at 5.51 p.m. Eastern time or 2.51 p.m. Pacific time. We, right there, have our first view of Dragon Freedom coming home to Earth.

[01:02:27] Speaker 2: And that view is from the WB-57, which is one of NASA's high-altitude planes that is tracking. Now, because of the way that this camera is configured, it does look like it is dark, but it is indeed daytime, and you're beginning to see that plasma trail as Dragon reenters the Earth's atmosphere. All of that is expected. We are anticipating an acquisition of signal around 2.51 p.m. Pacific time, time so just minutes from now and you may hear the Corps begin to hail out or call Dragon for communications and see if we can potentially get communications with them a little bit earlier. Following this we'll have two events in rapid succession. We'll have the drogue parachutes deploy at 2 53 p.m pacific followed by the mains just one minute later at 2 54 p.m pacific time ahead of a splashdown at 2 57 p.m pacific time off the coast of tallahassee florida three minute pretty incredible views of the dragon spacecraft making its way home back to planet earth with the crew nine astronauts on board once again this view is coming from the WB-57 plane.

[01:03:49] Speaker 1: That heat shield, we can see doing magnificent work as it works to... Freedom, SpaceX, comm check. All right, we're gonna start hearing the SpaceX crew operations resource engineer.

[01:04:12] Speaker 5: SpaceX, Freedom is with you.

[01:04:14] Speaker 1: 4.16.

[01:04:14] Speaker 5: Enjoying the ride.

[01:04:17] Speaker 3: Copy that, Freedom.

[01:04:22] Speaker 1: Great news there from Commander Nick Hague reporting back.

[01:04:25] Speaker 3: We see a healthy flight computer. Expect automated chute deployment.

[01:04:32] Speaker 5: Freedom copies.

[01:04:36] Speaker 1: Like we said before, things moving very quickly as Dragon Freedom makes its way home. Next event coming up will be deployment of the drogue parachutes. This occurs around 18,000 feet.

[01:04:52] Speaker 3: GPS has converged. Expect nominal altitude for drogue chute deployment.

[01:05:05] Speaker 1: We're about two minutes away from deployment of those drogue parachutes. Now the heat shield is continuing to work to slow the vehicle down. That entry period, the Dragon spacecraft went from orbital velocity about 17,500 miles per hour down to about 350 miles per hour. So it really gives you a sense of why that plasma builds up on the exterior of the capsule thanks to the heat shield and the work that it does. Those drogue parachutes will slow it down from 350 to about 119 miles per hour.

[01:05:40] Speaker 3: We can see 15 kilometers brakes for drogue window.

[01:05:45] Speaker 1: We can see seat rotation happening inside the capsule. Great to get those first views of our crew members. Once again, the capsules are going about 350 miles per hour when the drogues are deployed. Those drogue parachutes that we manufacture here in-house are going to slow the spacecraft down to 119 miles per hour.

[01:06:11] Speaker 2: And that is when we will see the main parachutes deploy, and that occurs about 6,000 feet above the ocean's surface and we are expecting drogue deployment at 2 53 p.m. Pacific so we should see it any second now and there you are getting a great view of crew 9 inside dragon freedom as it returns back to earth we are awaiting the drogue deploys this view coming from the wb-57 high-altitude plane and there you see it on your screen drogue deployment You can hear the crowd here, the crowd here very excited as Dragon Freedom continues to make its way back to planet Earth. Next up we'll stand by for the main deployment of the parachutes. The mains are quite a bit larger, you'll be able to notice the difference on your screen once they deploy, and they continue to ensure that the Dragon spacecraft slows down even further. As we mentioned, Freedom will be traveling 16 miles per hour when it splashes down off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, here at 2.57 p.m. Pacific time this afternoon. And there we go.

[01:07:33] Speaker 1: We have visual on four healthy mains.

[01:07:41] Speaker 5: view was from inside.

[01:07:43] Speaker 1: That view was from inside one of the buckets where the parachutes are located. So we see a great view there of the reefing on those parachutes and as those parachutes those main parachutes begin to inflate fully for beautiful healthy mains. Now, awaiting visuals of splashdown, we'll start to hear Commander Nick Hague. As we heard right there, Commander Nick Hague will be calling out the altitude of the Dragon capsule from here on out. Landing in water is simpler and provides more margin against unlikely parachute issues. You can see those parachutes continuing to slow the Dragon capsule down.

[01:08:33] Speaker 2: And if you're just joining us, you're looking at 800 meters, a live view of Crew 9, just minutes away from splashing down off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida. Splashed down two minutes from now at 2.57 p.m. Pacific. We do have four health remains really doing the job there. of a calm, glass-like ocean off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida. Crew 9 just minutes away from splashing down. This is really such an incredible shot.

[01:09:05] Speaker 1: That was... Copy, 600. That was a live view from our recovery vessel. Megan, which is stationed a couple miles away from the splashdown site, we can see the crew there using their radio We can see the crew there using their, uh, their restraints as resting places for their arms. They were just in space moments ago, so their arms were able to float freely. 400 meters. This is a gorgeous bluebird day here that we have for the splashdown of Crew 9. It's incredible to think that the Dragon capsule, just minutes ago, was going over 17,000.

[01:09:54] Speaker 6: you Part for Houston.

[01:24:20] Speaker 2: And as we continue to await Dragon to be hoisted up onto the ship, we have a very special treat, NASA Public Affairs Officer Jaden Jenning, who is actually on the recovery vessel and had a bird's eye view of the splashdown today. Jayden, how are you? How was the view from the recovery vessel?

[01:24:43] Speaker 7: Hi, Sandra. How do you hear me?

[01:24:45] Speaker 2: I've got you loud and clear, Jayden. It's so great to hear you.

[01:24:49] Speaker 7: Awesome. So splashdown, Sandra, was nothing for a spectacular.

[01:24:53] Speaker 3: We are transitioning the forward link. Comm will be unavailable for approximately five minutes.

[01:25:07] Speaker 2: Thanks so much, Jaden. We did just have some communications letting us know that we'll have about a five-minute period where we won't be able to hear from the crew. So please go ahead, tell us, how was the view from the recovery vessel?

[01:25:19] Speaker 7: Absolutely. Yeah, I was mentioning earlier, splashdown was nothing short of spectacular. And we were stationed about 1 1⁄2 nautical miles away from the splashdown zone and had great visuals here on the recovery vessel Megan. We actually saw a little of the smoke trail as the spacecraft was coming in. And then moments later, we spotted those drogue chutes. And this was quickly followed by four healthy white and orange main parachutes. We then tracked Dragon all the way down as it slowly propelled into the ocean. And I think I speak for all of us on the ship when I say a new core memory was made today. and we are looking forward to having crew not on board with us a little later.

[01:25:56] Speaker 1: Jaden, that is amazing. Now, obviously we are watching it here on camera and the landing conditions look pretty good, but how was it from your perspective? What is the sea state out there?

[01:26:10] Speaker 7: Absolutely, absolutely. So we've had optimal conditions for splashdown and today it is sunny and 63 degrees outside right now with clear skies, light winds and calm seas. The sea looks absolutely beautiful right now and light blue with the sun reflecting from it. And, okay, I think the crew's gonna like what they feel weather-wise on this picture-perfect day for splashdown off the coast of Tallahassee.

[01:26:35] Speaker 2: Thanks so much, Jayden. It certainly looks like a beautiful day. Can you tell us a little bit about the journey of the recovery forces to get to this point?

[01:26:44] Speaker 7: Sure, so one unique aspect of this recovery was the onboard training on station conducted for Butch and Sonny to ensure they were ready to return on a Dragon spacecraft. That training covered all aspects of their return, including nominal and contingency departures, deorbit burns, splashdown, and post-landing ops, which is what this team is preparing for now. As for the recovery teams themselves, we started the day taking a series of helicopters out to the vessel. And as standard, the recovery director and crew support teams were on that first helicopter out and took the time to get everything prepared on the ship. About two hours before splashdown, they deployed those fast boats and jet skis into the water. I was actually on the second helicopter out, and we were on the vessel about an hour and a half before splashdown and landed on top of the helicopter pad on the Megan. And the teams have been working diligently across their respective disciplines this week, executing what can only be described, in my point of view, as a logistical masterpiece, just ensuring every detail has been in place for Crew 9's return.

[01:27:50] Speaker 1: That is such great news. I'm so glad that you're able there to experience it in person. Now, can you tell us a little bit about what's next to retrieve the crew for the recovery personnel on board?

[01:28:03] Speaker 7: Yeah, Kate, so coming up next, Dragon will be hoisted into the on-deck translation system, or the NIST, at the aft end of the ship, and then will be translated pretty quickly towards that egress platform. We'll perform another series of safety checks as final precautionary measures, just to make sure there are no hypergolic vapors present before opening that side hatch. And then once that side hatch of the spacecraft is open, the crew will be assisted out of the capsule one by one from NASA and SpaceX.

[01:28:31] Speaker 3: Freedom, SpaceX, comm check. Thanks Nick, we've got you loud and clear as well. We have completed our forward link transition.

[01:29:07] Speaker 2: And Jaden, if you did, just want to go ahead and let us know what is next to retrieve the crew. We are continuing to get some great views on our screen, but I know you have an even better view yourself.

[01:29:17] Speaker 7: Oh, yeah, Sandra, this view is absolutely unbeatable. So just to kind of finish off what I was saying is once that side hatch of the spacecraft is open, that crew will be assisted out of the capsule one by one from NASA and SpaceX medical personnel, where they will then head to the med bay. And after those medical checks, they will get on that first helicopter out and arrive at the airport, where they will then board a NASA plane and then head back to Houston, Texas at the Johnson Space Center to begin their post-flight period. And we're eager to see the Crew-9 astronauts back on Earth, and we'll keep you updated on every moment of this process. With that, I'll toss it back over to you guys at Hawthorne.

[01:29:56] Speaker 2: Thank you so much. That was Jayden Jenning, NASA Public Affairs Officer, who watched Freedom splash down firsthand from the recovery vessel. Megan, thanks so much, Jayden. So we are continuing to get these great views on our screen here of Freedom. As we mentioned, it splashed down at 2.57 p.m. Pacific time off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida. The recovery personnel are continuing to step through procedures to hoist Dragon onto the recovery vessel Megan there, which is now coming into view. You can see just how close Megan is at this point. And that's that helicopter pad that Jayden was just discussing, where the crew will fly off of onto the coast of Florida and then eventually they'll fly back to Houston.

[01:30:39] Speaker 1: Just underneath that helicopter pad is that translation deck where we will see the nest once it is loaded up with the Dragon spacecraft on board. The nest will be translated to the forward end of the recovery vessel and that is where our crew nine team members will egress from the Dragon spacecraft. Now, here on your screen, we can see dolphins, actually, who want to come and play with Dragon. Now, one of the fast boats there in place, working to assist the recovery team member. It's incredible. I just love these views. We really see them even better in daytime, but just seeing the recovery team work in tandem to step through each step, or excuse me, to step through each operation. and, you know, obviously they're getting quick assists from the honorary part of the recovery team, those dolphins in the water there. Now, the recovery crew team member that is crawling around the Dragon spacecraft, earlier we saw a view where it was like a spider monkey pose. We can see that individual now standing in the bucket where the main parachutes were stored while Dragon was on orbit. Obviously, those main parachutes were utilized for splashdown today. They were deployed and cut from the Dragon capsule. And one of the fast boats, one of the other fast boats of the recovery team working to pull those out of the water. Now, the recovery team member that is there working on top of the Dragon capsule, earlier we saw that person performing safety checks. And now we can see some harnessing being placed around the capsule. This harnessing is what will be used to lift the Dragon capsule out of the water and onto the recovery vessel. Wow, we got a cute little pod of dolphins. It wasn't just one or two.

[01:32:42] Speaker 2: I mean, that water just looks beautiful. We had ideal splashdown parameters today, obviously, wave height, NARA concern. The weather is beautiful, as Jaden mentioned, in the 60s sunny. Looking forward to seeing Crew 9 exit the capsule here shortly once they get hoisted onto the recovery vessel Megan.

[01:33:03] Speaker 1: We can see that recovery vessel slowly but surely closing the distance there between – oh, DolphinCam back again. We can see that the Dragon capsule and the recovery vessel, that distance is closing. Again, this is just one more step as we continue to work recovery operations for Dragon Freedom. And we anticipate the lift of the Dragon capsule to occur here in just a few minutes. Now, once all of the rigging is on the capsule and it's hooked up to the recovery vessel, we will see the hydraulic arm, which is that kind of like bridge-like structure there at the aft end of the recovery vessel, we'll see that articulate backwards. And that's a good sign that we're getting even closer to pulling the capsule out of the water. It will then move forward and the capsule will be placed inside of what you can see there is basically a basket. We call it the nest, dragon nest, where that's where the capsule will be placed in order for it to be translated to the forward end of the vessel and for the astronauts to egress.

[01:34:20] Speaker 2: And before that does take place, we'll have potentially views of the rigger. Go ahead and jump off of the spacecraft there.

[01:34:31] Speaker 1: That typically occurs when the spacecraft is a little bit closer to the recovery vessel and we usually get a really good view of that particular operation from one of the onboard cameras from the recovery vessel. That is an operation that I have a lot of respect and admiration for that individual that does that.

[01:35:02] Speaker 2: So again, Dragon continuing to get closer and closer to the recovery vessel, Megan. You see some of those ropes now coming into view as well. If you are just joining us, Crew 9 splashed down off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida at 2.57 p.m. Pacific time with NASA astronauts Nick Haig, Butch Wilmore, Sunny Williams, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov. They're now working through procedures to hoist this spacecraft up onto the recovery vessel Megan.

[01:35:38] Speaker 1: We just saw that hydraulic arm get lowered into the lifting position. That arm will be the mechanism that is utilized to lift Dragon up and out of the water and into the nest located there at the aft end of the recovery vessel.

[01:35:58] Speaker 2: And the recovery vessel being used today is, as we mentioned multiple times, is named Megan, but that's actually after NASA astronaut Megan McArthur, who flew on crew two a couple of years ago. We're getting some views now from actually inside the boat.

[01:36:21] Speaker 1: Yeah, you're exactly right. This view is straight down the recovery vessel. That platform that was closest to the camera, that is the egress platform.

[01:36:33] Speaker 3: Freedom rigging is almost complete. Approximately five minutes until capsule lift.

[01:36:39] Speaker 1: Great news there from SpaceX 4. So about five minutes left until we see Dragon Freedom get lifted out of the water. Hydraulic arm as I said before is the mechanism that will lift it It's it's quite swift actually the the whole process of getting the spacecraft brace for capsule lift There it goes dragon freedom being lifted out of the water and on to our recovery vessel Megan So once securely on.

[01:37:49] Speaker 3: aboard the recovery vessel. Recovery personnel are completing final checks and standby for translation to the ECRS platform.

[01:38:02] Speaker 1: Great news there, letting us know that Dragon Freedom has been successfully recovered from the water's surface. If you've just joined us, we had an on-time splashdown at 5.57 p.m. eastern time and we can now see that the water recovery operations are continuing to progress. The nest where the Dragon spacecraft is located is going to get moved forward. This will happen after one of the recovery crew members does some checks and we'll also see some hosing. Obviously, the spacecraft splashed down in saltwater, saltwater is corrosive, and we wanna try and rinse out as much of the saltwater as possible to reduce that corrosion on the metallic structures. So we can see some guidance there being provided really steering the spacecraft properly into the Dragon's Nest.

[01:39:05] Speaker 2: And it's been 30 minutes since Dragon splashed down, And as you can see there, the spacecraft is already on board the recovery vessel Megan. Things continuing to move very smoothly today throughout the entire operations from the de-orbit burn up until this point as well.

[01:39:23] Speaker 3: And Freedom, it looks like the positioning wasn't quite right, so they are working on repositioning the capsule in the nest now.

[01:39:32] Speaker 5: Okay, copy that. Thanks.

[01:39:36] Speaker 2: And with that the team is just going to adjust the Dragon spacecraft a bit so that it's in the right position ahead of translating up a little bit closer ahead of the side hatch so the team is now going to step through the procedures to ensure that that takes place.

[01:39:52] Speaker 1: While Dragon does fly itself autonomously it clearly is unable to park itself autonomously. We want to make sure that that the dragon capsule is properly seated there in that nest. Once the dragon is fully seated in the nest we'll probably see a bunch of that salt water come out from the bucket. They're located underneath the side hatch. See some salt water splash out. As I mentioned before, one of the recovery team members will begin hosing down the exterior of the spacecraft.

[01:40:58] Speaker 2: So you are continuing to get some great live views on your screen of Crew-9, which includes NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Sonny Williams, Butch Willmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov, who splashed down off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, 2.57 p.m. Pacific time this afternoon. Now working to get that spacecraft situated in the nest. Just making some final adjustments and tweaks to ensure that it's nice and secure.

[01:41:40] Speaker 1: Once the spacecraft is seated and secured and oriented correctly in the nest, Dragon will be moved into the hangar located underneath that helipad that we saw earlier from the aerial views during recovery.

[01:41:59] Speaker 3: All right, Freedom, looks like you are settled into the nest now. Team is working through hypergol sweeps.

[01:42:13] Speaker 1: Call out there telling us that the recovery team is doing the second round of those hypergolic sweeps. This helps ensure that everyone, all the recovery team members that are located basically right where this camera is located on, you know, towards the forward end of the recovery vessel, they will all be safe once the once the spacecraft is translated forward. So we're just doing some additional steps to make sure that the hypergolic propellant that is utilized for maneuvering the Dragon capsule while on orbit, making sure that none of those vapors are are are still present on the exterior of the capsule.

[01:42:58] Speaker 2: That's right. and there are a variety of individuals on board the boat that help with recovery operations. Not only do we have the recovery personnel that you see here, but we also have a doctor that will check out the crew members. As standard procedure, as with any spacecraft that is returning from space, we always perform a medical check with the crew. So you will see the crew come out of the capsule and be placed on stretchers, just like with the Soyuz landing and with all of our Dragon splashdowns, That is the nominal procedure. We'll stand by to see Dragon Freedom translate or scooch up a little bit closer to the camera angle that we're seeing right here. And then teams will step through procedures to get that side hatch open. You see it right in the dead center of your screen there. It's kind of that rectangular shape. It has not been opened since the, since Crew 9, which include Nick Hague and Alexander Gorbunov, launched back in September from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. So that will be the very first time that that hatch is opened. Once docked to the International Space Station crew, enter through the top hatch, which was where the nose cone is now closed. That's the hatch that they actually utilize to go ahead and get inside the International Space Station. So, as we get a little closer to that hatch opening procedure, you might start to see more individuals come into frame for some of that support. The ship has a maximum capacity of a little over 40 people on board, and it takes a variety of different roles, as we've discussed, to support. Also on board is the Chief of the Astronaut Office for NASA, that's Joe Acaba.

[01:45:17] Speaker 1: And while we are standing by for translation of the Dragon spacecraft to the platform there, the recovery platform that we see in the foreground, it is important to note that Nick, Sonny, Butch and Alexander will be getting assistance from the recovery teams while exiting the spacecraft. This is the same process for any returning long-duration crew members as you could imagine returning to a gravity environment can wreak havoc on our on our vestibular system which is responsible for maintaining balance and motion. Of course safety is our number one priority with this operation so we'll see the crew members helped out of the spacecraft one by one and they will be assisted the few feet to the medical The veterans space flyers that includes Nick Hague, the commander Alexander Gorbunov is completing his very first space flight on this mission and he completed 171 days in space along with Nick Haig. For those of you that have just recently joined us, well, I would encourage you to hit that rewind button and go back a few minutes. It was a beautiful splashdown of Dragon Freedom with the Crew 9 cohort on board. They had an on-time splashdown at 5.57 p.m. Eastern Time, 2.57 p.m. Pacific Time. We can see that the spacecraft... Freedom translation is in progress.

[01:47:12] Speaker 5: Copy, and seal it.

[01:47:15] Speaker 1: We can see that spacecraft was successfully recovered from the ocean surface and is now now being washed with fresh water, as obviously they splashed out in salt water, so we're trying to rinse off as much of that salt water as possible. And we can see the spacecraft continuing to move closer and closer to that recovery deck.

[01:47:38] Speaker 3: Freedom, the crew is working on side hatch opening now. Expect hatch open in about two minutes.

[01:47:47] Speaker 8: Okay, copy that. Okay, copy that. And Kira, just wanted to say that to you guys, you and the team did an awesome job, both uphill and downhill, just really, really impressed. Thank you.

[01:48:02] Speaker 3: Thanks, Nick. It's been an honor.

[01:48:07] Speaker 1: This is a pretty exciting moment coming up. We are working to open the side hatch. One thing that may not be obvious from, you know, just looking at the spacecraft here is that this side hatch that we're about to open, the last time it was open was when this spacecraft was at the launch pad. This side hatch is what is used for initial capsule ingress and final capsule egress. But all comings and goings from the spacecraft while it is on board the space station are from the forward hatch, which is located at the top of the spacecraft under that nose cone. So this is a pretty exciting moment because it will be the crew's first breath of fresh air since boarding their ships at the start of their journeys last year.

[01:49:00] Speaker 2: And the very first person that will have the opportunity to say hello to the crew once that hatch is open is a SpaceX medical recovery personnel representative. And we'll see procedures take place to remove, to remove the foot rests of Dragon. That will just help the recovery personnel get a little bit more room to access the crew and help get them out of the spacecraft.

[01:49:38] Speaker 1: Yeah, you're absolutely right. is once again top priority here and removing those footrests from all four seats will be helpful as a recovery as a SpaceX recovery team member will actually go into the capsule into the into Dragon Freedom to help the crew members unbuckle and stand up and essentially we'll also see a fun little slide be put in place to help the crew members exit the spacecraft safely. So yeah we're gonna remove all of those all four of those footrests to basically give a little bit more working room inside the spacecraft.

[01:50:23] Speaker 2: That's right and we did hear the go for that hatch opening so we're just a couple minutes away from being able to see that and then we might be able to get the chance to see a couple of views inside of the Dragon and see the crew following their splashdown.

[01:50:38] Speaker 1: Opening that side hatch isn't quite like opening you know the the door to your car. We have to depress the seal around the side hatch as well as you know we'll now see them open that side hatch up.

[01:51:15] Speaker 2: And there you have it. The side hatch is open for the first time since September.

[01:51:30] Speaker 1: We can see some of the protective equipment there that was brought into frame. That will help protect the edge of the side hatch. One from any potential damage. We can see the recovery crew member there taking photos of the side hatch seal. This is part of the standard operation for recovery. These photos will get saved into our procedure. We'll then install that protective frame around the side hatch. This helps to ensure that the side hatch itself, the edges of it incur no damage while crew members are coming out from the spacecraft. If you missed it, there was also a recovery team member that went inside. So there are now five people on board the Dragon spacecraft.

[01:52:49] Speaker 2: And if you are just joining us, it has not yet even been an hour since Crew 9 splashed down off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida at 2 57 p.m. Pacific time. The crew is now on board the recovery vessel Megan and the hatch is open. The next major milestone that we'll see is when the crew will actually egress or exit the spacecraft. But before that, they'll continue to, um, the recovery personnel rather will continue to install that protective, um, area around the hatch and then remove the foot rest. So we're a couple minutes away from seeing the crew egress, but not too, too long away.

[01:53:33] Speaker 1: We'll probably see those foot rests being handed out here in the near future. As I mentioned before, of course, we've got to get a well documented photo of the moment. I know we can't see it from here. I'm pretty sure there are four smiles on board right now.

[01:53:53] Speaker 2: And we did hear that report out from the commander Nick Hague following splashdown. There were four, four smiles as far as he could see. Yeah. Capsule full of grins. Now, generally speaking. And there we do see crew nine, some happy waves, smiles all around back on earth.

[01:54:27] Speaker 1: Generally speaking, we have the individuals in the two center seats of the spacecraft exit first. You might hear us refer to this as the exit process as egress. It's just another term for exiting the spacecraft. speaking, we most of the time have the two center seats egress first as it makes moving around inside the capsule a little bit easier. We can see the tablets that were previously located on the upper leg of the crew members. we can see those being handed out to the recovery team. Those were taken off prior to spacecraft re-entry. Those had to be stored and secured prior to dynamic operations.

[01:55:38] Speaker 2: That looks like we are starting to see the foot rests also be removed. I just saw one there on the screen. There are four, of course, one for each crew member.

[01:55:59] Speaker 1: Those footrests are made out of carbon fiber and are actually sized appropriately for each crew member as everybody has different measurements and different leg lengths. The same goes for the armrests and the bucket length of each seat. We size those appropriately for the crew members and to ensure their comfort and safety. I believe we just saw the little ramp that is used to help slide the crew members out from inside the spacecraft.

[01:56:41] Speaker 2: And once the crew does exit Dragon Freedom, they will be placed on to a structure to go to a medical bay for medical checkouts. This is standard procedure for all Dragon spacecraft flights that splash down crewed as well as for our Soyuz spacecraft that land in Kazakhstan.

[01:57:13] Speaker 1: We can see the exterior of Dragon Freedom quite clearly in this shot, and it's such a beautiful sight. I personally prefer the capsule when it has some of that charring from atmospheric re-entry. It is the signature sign of a capsule that has returned to Earth.

[01:57:57] Speaker 2: to stand by for our first crew member to egress or exit for Dragon Freedom following their splashdown at 2.57 p.m. Pacific time. Dragon undocked from the International Space Station at 10.05 p.m. Pacific just yesterday, So it was about 17 hours of phasing. And while on board the International Space Station, Crew 9 contributed to 900 hours of science, over 150 research experiments and investigations, making great use of the microgravity lab of the International Space Station, which celebrates 25 years of continuous human presence this November.

[01:59:05] Speaker 1: Looks like we're about to get our first crew member here upon egress of the Dragon spacecraft.

[01:59:23] Speaker 2: So we are standing by for that egress. Outside of Dragon, you do see one of those stretchers. This is the expected procedure as the crew will be taken to medical facilities following their exit from Dragon.

[01:59:57] Speaker 1: We can see folks on board clapping as our first crew member.

[02:00:03] Speaker 2: And that is NASA astronaut Nick Haig, commander of Crew 9, now out of Crew Dragon Freedom. Some smiles, thumbs up, and a wave. Can't get any better than that.

[02:00:19] Speaker 1: Yeah, that is one happy camper, that's for sure. As we said before, it is standard procedure for all of our long-duration crew members to receive assistance upon egressing from the spacecraft. We basically help them move off of the recovery deck and into the private medical quarters for their initial consultation with the SpaceX flight surgeon. So we'll see that take place for all four of our crew members today.

[02:01:12] Speaker 2: And we are standing by for the next crew member to exit Freedom. Next up, out of the capsule, we expect Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov's first space flight. Spent 171 days in space alongside NASA astronaut Nick Hague.

[02:02:12] Speaker 1: Looks like we're getting some cheers and clapping on board as Alexander is slid down the little ramp and placed into the mobility aid. Again, big smile.

[02:02:45] Speaker 2: Now the two crew members remaining in Dragon are NASA astronauts Sonny Williams and Butch Wilmore. They completed 286 days in space.

[02:02:59] Speaker 1: One of the remaining footrests being removed from the Dragon spacecraft. As I said before, we generally try to have the crew members that are located in the two center seats aboard Dragon. We like to have them egress first if possible, as it creates a little bit more movable working room inside the spacecraft. There is a recovery crew member inside that is helping all of our Crew 9 crew egress or for exit from the spacecraft.

[02:04:14] Speaker 2: are standing by for the next crew member to egress or exit Crew Dragon Freedom following the splashdown not even an hour ago at 2.57 p.m. Pacific time. Really have the recovery operations down pretty quick at this point.

[02:04:40] Speaker 1: Yeah, it's pretty incredible to think that just five years ago when we were doing the initial demonstration missions of the Dragon, for Crew Dragon, that now we're under about 30 minutes for, you know, to retrieve the spacecraft from the water and just several minutes here while it's been on board and to get everyone, really, to get that side hatch open. For those of you that have just recently joined, the Dragon had an on-time splashdown. Looks like we're getting our next crew member here. That is none other than Sunny Williams. Big smile, big waves. She like her other crew members now will be assisted on to the mobility aid.

[02:05:49] Speaker 2: There we have it. Some waves, some thumbs up and some smiles.

[02:05:54] Speaker 1: Definitely seems to be a theme among all recovery operations.

[02:06:01] Speaker 2: Absolutely. And, of course, that leaves NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore, inside Dragon in seat four. We're getting some views of him now as he egresses or exits the spacecraft.

[02:06:40] Speaker 1: Once again, some elation and cheers there from Butch Wilmore, more. As we mentioned before, returning to Earth from coming from a microgravity environment can wreak havoc on the body. So it is customary and just standard procedure for all of our long-term space residents to get assistance once they are back on board the recovery vessel.

[02:07:17] Speaker 2: Well, now that Nick, Butch, Sonny and Alexander are safely back home on Earth and getting checked out by the NASA medical team, we're going to wrap up our live coverage of their return. The Crew-9 mission began a little differently than usual since Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams were already aboard the space station when Nick Hague and Alexander Gorbunov arrived on the Crew-9 spacecraft in September. Having arrived as the crew flight test crew for Starliner, Wilmore and Williams were fully incorporated into the space station's Expedition 72 team and began research and other work aboard the station along with the other crew members. Williams commanded the orbiting laboratory for much of the expedition. After a successful liftoff and separation from Falcon 9, Nick and Alexander made a short flight on board Dragon to the International Space Station. of long-duration space station missions, both Williams and Willmore conducted spacewalks during their nine months in space. Like all crews on the station, Crew 9 had the ability to leave at any point had there been an emergency. With their full-duration mission coming to an end, the crew began packing up their personal items for their return to Earth about a week ago and worked through tasks and shared lessons learned with Crew 10 teams as they arrived a few days ago.

[02:08:37] Speaker 1: their journey home began about 17 hours ago when they closed the forward hatch to Dragon and undocked from the space station at 10 o 5 p.m. Pacific 105 a.m. Eastern after four successful departure burns and a phasing burn to line up their orbit Nick Butch Sonny and Alexander rested for a few hours before waking up to prepare for reentry this morning we jettisoned dragons trunk and performed our final on-orbit maneuver, the approximately seven and a half minute long deorbit burn, and that occurred at 2 11 p.m. Pacific, 5 11 p.m. Eastern Time, and that sent Dragon on its path home. The spacecraft reentered the Earth's atmosphere and slowed its descent with successful deployments of two drogue parachutes and four main parachutes, with the final splashdown after a successful splashdown occurring off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida at 2 57 p.m. Pacific 5 57 p.m. Eastern. Following that successful splashdown, we saw SpaceX recovery experts move in and prepare Dragon freedom for its lift onto the recovery vessel and just a little less than an hour following splashdown. We saw Nick, Sonny, Butch and Alexander make their way out of Dragon and into the recovery to be able to get back to Houston.

[02:09:58] Speaker 2: It's been an honor and a privilege to share their journey with all of you as we continue this new era in human spaceflight. Return today marks the end of the direct handover we executed after successfully launching the crew to Houston. The astronauts will take a NASA plane for the short flight back to Houston, where they'll be reunited with family and friends to bring an end to this mission.

[02:10:14] Speaker 1: It's been an honor and a privilege to share their journey with all of you as we continue this new era in human crew 10 mission to the space station just last week on Friday, March 14th. Thank you as always for joining us for tonight's coverage of the splashdown of crew nine. Remember to follow SpaceX on X and NASA online and on social media for updates for the very latest on crew and cargo flights to and from the International Space Station.

[02:10:50] Speaker 2: And we'll continue to share the progress of Nick, Sonny, Butch and Alexander on social media as they travel back home. We do also have a post-splashdown media briefing coming up at approximately 4.30 p.m. Pacific, 7.30 p.m. Eastern, where leadership will share a final update as we conclude this successful mission. So, from all of us at NASA and SpaceX, welcome home, Crew-9. So long.

[02:11:24] Speaker 1: you You