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Andreas Mogensen was impressed by how easy a touchdown it was.
The primary European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut (and first non-American) to function a pilot on a U.S. industrial crew spacecraft, Mogensen and his SpaceX Crew-7 crewmates returned to Earth after a 197-day keep aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on March 12.
Mogensen, talking at his crew’s first post-flight information convention at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Monday (March 25), likened their splashdown to “plopping into the water” of a swimming pool whereas carrying a life vest.
“What I seen particularly was the smoothness of the touchdown in comparison with my first flight,” stated Mogensen, referring to his 2015 landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. “The [SpaceX] Dragon lands in water, and I feel that makes a giant distinction.”
“It was truly form of a really mushy splash,” Mogensen stated.
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NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, who commanded Crew-7, agreed that the touchdown was mushy, however then discovered what got here subsequent to be rougher than what others noticed.
“I felt like we have been actually rocking facet to facet,” she stated, describing the conclusion of her first spaceflight, “however then everybody I talked to was like, ‘Oh, the water was glass while you landed, there was barely any wind.’ So I positively felt much more movement than there was.”
That motion did not finish after they obtained again to strong floor. The crew — together with Moghbeli, Mogensen and Japan Aerospace Exploration Company (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa (Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov, the fourth member of Crew-7, missed Monday’s occasion, having already returned to Russia) — have been subjected to physiological exams to see how they adjusted to the reintroduction of gravity.
“Shortly after touchdown, we attempt to stroll first with our eyes open, and afterwards with our eyes closed,” stated Mogensen. “We have been all slightly wobbly on our ft, however nonetheless able to strolling kind of in a straight line so long as our eyes have been open as a result of they have been our main supply of steadiness after having been six months in area.”
“With our eyes closed, as a result of we hadn’t used the sense of steadiness in our ears for six months, our brains needed to reinsert that sensor into its into its suite of sensors, and that takes some time. So with our eyes closed, it was nearly unattainable [to walk a straight line],” he stated.
“I did a pleasant faucet dance take a look at for that eyes-closed take a look at,” stated Moghbeli with fun.
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Luckily, they tailored in fast trend, which freed them to start out having fun with a few of the facets of life they missed most whereas off Earth.
“I missed a scorching bathtub, particularly in a scorching spring, as a result of water does not drop and accumulate in zero gravity,” stated Furukawa.
Equally, Moghbeli stated she missed taking scorching showers, however equally desired a greater variety of meals.
“You do have a set menu up there and you can not simply eat no matter you need everytime you need,” she stated. “So my first lunch [back on Earth] was a pleasant roast beef sub with some Cape Cod potato chips, after which my first dinner was a 16-ounce prime rib with fries.”
Throughout their time collectively on the area station, the Crew-7 astronauts noticed the arrival of seven visiting autos and the departure of seven extra; contributed to a whole bunch of experiments and know-how demonstrations; and Moghbeli accomplished the primary spacewalk of her NASA profession.
It was close to the top of that six-hour and 42-minute extravehicular exercise (EVA) that Moghbeli made worldwide information by letting her tool bag float away and be misplaced in area. The incident, which was minor however a problem unto itself, helped spotlight one other issue the astronauts encountered whereas in orbit.
“I discovered one of many large challenges was making an attempt to take a photograph of a spot [on Earth] that you just wish to {photograph}, and also you attempt to time it out, you attempt to plan your day, and then you definately make your method to the Cupola or one of many different home windows and also you get set, you prepare after which it is just a bit bit cloudy,” stated Mogensen. “Even when it is not cloudy, possibly it is slightly bit misty or the air is not fairly as clear, after which you do not get photograph.”
“So it is truly fairly difficult in case you’re making an attempt to seize a selected goal,” he stated.
That actual factor occurred to Furukawa, but it surely was not a cloud or poor air high quality that obtained in the best way of his goal, a mountain peak southwest of Tokyo.
“We have been in Node 1, I feel, having lunch or dinner, and Satoshi had been out within the Cupola taking photos. He is available in and he is like, ‘Nicely, you recognize, I am very, very, very sorry. However you recognize, I I took this image.’ And we have been all pondering, ‘What is going on on?'”
“He had managed to take an image of the software bag because it was transiting Mount Fuji. He had been making an attempt to take an image of Mount Fuji and ended up with an image of the software bag,” Mogensen stated, laughing.
General, their six months in area have been superb, however some days have been higher than others, stated Moghbeli.
“If I’m giving an trustworthy reply, then like the rest, in case you’re spending six or six and half months someplace like we did, you’ll have unhealthy days, completely,” Moghbeli stated in response to a query from Area.com. “I liked being on the area station, I would not commerce it for the world. It was essentially the most unbelievable factor I’ve achieved in my life, however there have been positively days the place … you understand you are lacking quite a lot of milestones and issues again right here on Earth.”
Additional, there have been upkeep duties that have been much less fulfilling than attending to conduct groundbreaking science and know-how demonstrations. Nonetheless, stated Moghbeli, it was well worth the journey.
“On the finish of the day, I completely liked it. I used to be very unhappy to go away the area station,” she stated.