Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, who flew on SpaceX's groundbreaking first crewed mission to the ISS, are scheduled to return to Earth on August 2 with a planned splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean.
On May 30, SpaceX launched Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station (ISS) in a mission historic for two reasons: it marked the first crewed flight from U.S. soil since 2011 and the first using a privately developed American spacecraft.
While the Demo-2 mission has succeeded so far, the critical phase of safely returning the crew remains. NASA and SpaceX have now finalized the timeline for their homecoming.
On August 1, the Crew Dragon capsule will undock from the ISS. It will gradually maneuver away from the station before initiating orbital burns. The descent is expected to take about one day.
Just before atmospheric entry, the astronauts will jettison the capsule's "trunk"—the unpressurized section that carried supplies and houses the solar panels.
The capsule will then reenter Earth's atmosphere at around 27,000 km/h. Atmospheric friction will decelerate it while heating the heat shield to temperatures rivaling the sun's surface, protecting the crew inside.
After reentry, the spacecraft will deploy four Mark 3 parachutes to further slow its descent, enabling a soft splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean off Florida's coast on August 2.
Recovery teams aboard SpaceX's GO Navigator vessel will swiftly retrieve the capsule and crew from the water and transport them back to Cape Canaveral.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine emphasized that these dates are weather-dependent, as conditions also delayed the original launch in May.
With Demo-2 complete, SpaceX is poised for its first operational mission, Crew-1, slated for launch from Kennedy Space Center on August 30.
