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Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams has returned to Earth after 9 months. All 4 NASA astronauts returned to Earth from ISS via SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft capsule. Let's know how was their journey from Earth to space and what happened after the Dragon capsule splashed down.
According to NASA, before returning to Earth, the astronauts orbited the Earth 4,500 times and travelled about 19 crore kilometres at a speed of 28,000 kilometres per hour. This journey took them 17 hours.
The speed of the capsule was 28 thousand kilometers per hour
The most difficult phase of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft's journey back to Earth was during its entry into Earth's atmosphere. During this time, the spacecraft's speed was more than 28,800 kilometers per hour. Due to the friction, the outer part of the spacecraft had a temperature of about 1,600 degrees Celsius.
Due to such high temperature, the spacecraft was descending into the Earth's atmosphere like a fireball. However, due to the heat shield installed in the spacecraft, all the astronauts sitting in it returned safely to Earth.
The capsule used is heat-resistant
The Dragon capsule used PICA's heat-resistant casing of phenolic-impregnated carbon ablators to protect it from the Earth's atmosphere's heat. This lightweight material was first used by NASA. Later, SpaceX equipped its Dragon capsules with PICA tiles for cargo and human movement to and from the International Space Station.
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