Nasa Crew-3 return to Earth delayed extra day after six months in space
The IndependentSign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Nasa’s Crew-3 mission to the International Space Station will spend at least one additional day in space before returning to Earth after the space agency delayed their homecoming. The four Crew-3 astronauts were scheduled to return to Earth on Thursday, but Nasa’s head of human spaceflight Kathy Lueders said that the new schedule will allow forecasters more time to review weather around the Florida coast, where the astronauts will splash down in their SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft just after midnight Eastern time on Friday. The Crew-3 team— Nasa astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, and Kayla Barron, as well as European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer — arrived on the ISS in November, and have spent the past months conducting science experiments and spacewalks. Nasa’s crew-4 astronauts, Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, and Jessica Watkins, along with ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, will also spend roughly six months aboard the ISS, returning to Earth sometime in the autumn of 2022.