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How to watch SpaceX Crew-7 return to Earth this week

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 Re-entry and Splashdown

SpaceX’s Crew-7 is preparing to depart the International Space Station (ISS) after a six-and-a-half-month stay aboard the orbital outpost some 250 miles above Earth. NASA will live-stream all of the key moments of the homecoming (full details below).

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NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov will board their Crew Dragon spacecraft and undock from the ISS just after 11 a.m. ET on Monday, March 11.

Mogensen, who’s been dazzling earthlings with his photographic skills over the last half-year, said on Sunday that the stay aboard the ISS had been “the adventure of a lifetime.”

NASA’s live stream will include video from multiple cameras inside and outside the Crew Dragon, as well as the audio feed between the crew and Mission Control back on the ground. A commentator will also describe what’s happening as the crew prepares to depart the station.

SpaceX Crew-7 aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft at the start of their mission in August 2023.
SpaceX Crew-7 aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft at the start of their mission in August 2023. SpaceX

How to watch

NASA will live-stream the spacecraft’s undocking and the early part of Crew-7’s journey home. The broadcast will resume again to show the Crew Dragon and its crew in the final stages of their journey as they hurtle toward Earth before being slowed by the capsule’s large parachutes. The journey will end with the Crew Dragon coming down in the ocean off the coast of Florida.

Coverage of SpaceX’s Crew-7 hatch closure will begin at 9 a.m. ET on Monday, March 11, with the actual closure expected to take place at about 9:15 a.m. ET. The undocking maneuver is scheduled for 11:05 a.m. ET.

At 4:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, NASA will begin coverage of Crew-7’s deorbit and splashdown, which is expected to take place at around 5:50 a.m., depending on the final location selection.

You can watch all of the key moments on the video player embedded at the top of this page or by visiting NASA’s website or YouTube channel, which will carry the same feed.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
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