NASA delays return of ISS capsule due to bad weather

The US space agency NASA delayed one day the departure of a Dragon capsule from the International Space Station (ISS) that was scheduled to start its return to Earth this Saturday due to adverse weather conditions in Florida, where it is scheduled to splash down. The unmanned resupply capsule of the company SpaceX thus postponed its detachment from the ISS for Sunday, when it will return loaded with experiments and hardware.NASA specified that the capsule will return with more than 2 tons of valuable scientific experiments.The agency explained that the splashdown near the Florida coast allows researchers at the Kennedy Space Center in central Florida to quickly collect the payload “with minimal exposure of the sample to Earth’s gravity.”The Dragon capsule will parachute off the Florida coast and will be recovered by SpaceX personnel.Meanwhile, the five astronauts of the Expedition 66 crew on the ISS continue to work on scientific experiments.The four US astronauts and one European astronaut aboard the orbiting laboratory assisted in the final cargo packing operations inside the SpaceX vehicle.Nasa astronaut Kayla Barron along with European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer began loading frozen research samples onto Dragon today.After that, NASA Flight Engineers Thomas Marshburn and Raja Chari have ensured that all of Dragon’s cargo is ready for a safe return to Earth before finally closing the hatch.NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei will unload protein crystal samples grown on the station for the Advanced Nano Step experiment, which will also return to Earth.At the Kennedy Space Center, scientists are scheduled to analyze the samples to develop new materials and drugs in space and to assess the impacts of weightlessness on biochemistry.Meanwhile, NASA reported that cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrovdos continue this Saturday with their activities after the 7-hour and 11-minute spacewalk they carried out last Wednesday.During the excursion, Russian spacewalkers activated the new Prichal docking module, successfully integrating it with the Russian segment of the orbiting laboratory. Have the information instantly on your cell phone. Join the Diario Primicia group on WhatsApp through the following link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/CHcqdWDuhmXIg4YBWvjRiE We are also on Telegram as @DiarioPrimicia, join us here: https://t.me/diarioprimicia