Kumar Bahukhandi
SpaceX spacecraft successfully returns to Earth
SpaceX’s spacecraft Dragon made a successful landing in the Florida sea early Wednesday. After this, all four astronauts were evacuated safely one by one. In this way, after spending 286 days in space, Sunita Williams and her colleagues once again breathed fresh air on Earth.
Sunita Williams has returned safely to Earth after spending nine months in space. On Wednesday morning, SpaceX’s Dragon capsule landed in the Florida sea with Sunita and four astronauts. This journey from space to Earth was of 17 hours. But in this process of landing, there was also a breath-holding moment of 7 minutes.
The 17-hour journey from the International Space Station (ISS) to Earth was full of challenges. But as soon as the spacecraft entered the Earth’s atmosphere, its temperature increased to more than 1900 degrees Celsius. This was the time when there was a communication blackout for seven minutes… However, this is a normal but challenging phase. During this time, NASA loses contact with the spacecraft.
The same thing happened with SpaceX’s Dragon. However, contact with the spacecraft was restored only after seven minutes at around 3.20 am on Wednesday. But this blackout of seven minutes increases the possibility of any spacecraft crashing. On February 1, 2003, an accident happened with NASA’s space shuttle Columbia, when the spacecraft crashed as soon as it entered the Earth’s atmosphere, in which Kalpana Chawla became a victim of the accident. In such a situation, this time is very cautious for any spacecraft.
What is communication blackout?
Whenever a spacecraft enters the Earth’s atmosphere from space, its speed is about 28000 km per hour. When the capsule passes at this speed, it rubs against the atmosphere. Due to this friction, the temperature of the capsule increases further, due to which the spacecraft crashes. During this time, the spacecraft’s signal with the mission control is lost. Meanwhile, the spacecraft loses contact in any way.
Overcoming this challenge, the spacecraft landed successfully in the sea and one by one all the four astronauts were taken out safely. In this way, after spending 286 days in space, Sunita Williams and her colleagues once again breathed in the fresh air of the earth.
