High winds delay France's Thomas Pesquet, other ISS astronauts' return to Earth

Crew-3 has also been delayed several times, including by bad weather


AFP November 07, 2021
ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, NASA astronauts Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide are inside the capsule ahead of the Crew-2 mission at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, April 23, 2021. PHOTO: AFP

PARIS:

A capsule carrying four astronauts home will leave the International Space Station on Monday rather than Sunday, NASA said, blaming high winds at the landing site for the delay.

The group including France's Thomas Pesquet, Japan's Akihiko Hoshide and US spacefarers Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur will undock at 1905 GMT on Monday.

"Due to high winds near the splashdown zone, the Crew-2 mission is now targeting a return to Earth no earlier than" 0333 GMT on Tuesday, NASA posted on Twitter.

Also read: Chinese astronauts return to Earth after 90-day mission

Dubbed Endeavour, their Crew Dragon capsule built by private company SpaceX is expected to arrive off the Florida coast.

In orbit on the space station since April 24, the Crew-2 astronauts will still return to solid ground before the arrival of the next four-person mission to the ISS.

Crew-3 has also been delayed several times, including by bad weather.

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