Elon Musk’s Spacecraft Carrying 4 Passengers Returned To Earth After Making History The spaceship launched by American billionaire Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX, with four private astronauts has successfully returned to Earth. The spacecraft, which spent five days in space, landed in Florida at 3:37 a.m. Eastern Time on Sunday.
SpaceX sent four passengers for a spacewalk under the ‘Polaris Down Mission.’ This is the highest altitude traveled by humans after five decades. The spacewalk conducted last Thursday morning has also become a mission (commercial spacewalk) for the first time in history with the investment of a private company.
The most dangerous phase of a space mission is the return to Earth. To safely return to Earth, the Crew Dragon capsule completed a process called ‘de-orbit burn.’ According to the international media CNN, this aircraft endured the heat of 1900 degrees Celsius.
When flying at a speed of 27,000 kilometers per hour, heat was generated due to air pressure and friction in the plane. However, the crew inside remained at a normal temperature. The passengers were in the bottom of the 13-foot-wide capsule. A special type of heat shield was used to protect the part from heat.
According to CNN, they were 14,000 kilometers above the earth. This is the highest altitude ever orbited by humans. Previously, in 1966, NASA’s Gemini Mission astronauts had reached an altitude of 1,373 km.
With this flight, Gilles and Menon became the first female travelers to travel to the farthest altitude from Earth. The altitude of the Crew Dragon capsule was reduced for the spacewalk. During the five-day mission, the astronauts performed 40 different experiments (scientific tests).
During that time, they also researched the effects of space missions on human health and tested inter-satellite laser communications between the Dragon spacecraft and SpaceX’s Starlink satellite.
