SpaceX F9/Dragon 2 : CRS2 SpX-30 : CCSFS SLC-40 : 21 March 2024 (20:55 UTC)

[Ron Lee]

If the CRS-30 splashdown is roughly 1:00 AM EDT on 30 April 2024, then that will be a southwest to northeast ground track.  If it is an Atlantic Ocean splashdown then far more people will have the opportunity to see it than if it goes to a Gulf of Mexico zone.

[Yellowstone10]

Looks like they're using the Tampa splashdown site, going by the effective times on the TFRs. The other Gulf TFRs are valid several hours later on Tuesday morning, and there are no pending Atlantic TFRs.

[Ken the Bin]

Looks like they're using the Tampa splashdown site, going by the effective times on the TFRs. The other Gulf TFRs are valid several hours later on Tuesday morning, and there are no pending Atlantic TFRs.

Tampa is now the only TFR left.

https://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_4_5918.html

[Ron Lee]

Is 1:25 AM EDT the expected splashdown time? 

I found a 1:38 AM EDT splashdown at the following link:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

[ddspaceman]

ISS National Lab
@ISS_CASIS
Worldwide, nearly 10 million people die from #cancer yearly. Scheduled to return to Earth early tomorrow morning is research from #biotech startup @Encapsulatebio designed to mitigate the effects of #cancer to improve the lives of patients. #CRS30
Details: https://ow.ly/YUOJ50Rr5R5
https://www.issnationallab.org/release-spxcrs30-encapsulate-cancer-research/

https://twitter.com/ISS_CASIS/status/1784998127818145985

[Ron Lee]

Following are rough look angles and times based upon a 1:38 AM EDT splashdown in the Tampa recovery area (See circle to the west/left of Tampa Florida).



Start of fiery re-entry:   1:25 AM EDT   (12:25 AM CDT)
End of fiery re-entry:     1:32 AM EDT   (12:32 AM CDT)
Splashdown:                 1:38 AM EDT   (12:38 AM CDT)

I would be in my observing spot at least ten minutes early.

1)  Key West/southern Florida:  Southwest to northwest.  Possibly too far away.
2)  Tampa:  Southwest to west-southwest.  Highest elevation is probably from this area
3)  Beach south of Tallahassee:  South-southwest to south.  Close to horizon
4)  Panama City:    South to southeast    Possibly near limit of seeing it.
5)  Gulfport MS to New Orleans:  Southeast.  Likely too far away

If you look at the distance of the Tampa recovery area to the beach just south of Tallahassee, CRS-21 was seen low (close to the horizon) on CRS-21  (See photo below).  A similar distance or even further in a circle around the end of the fiery re-entry phase has the potential of seeing it.  I would scan left and right of these directions and from the horizon up 20 degrees or so (perhaps higher near Tampa).  I won't guarantee visibility but it may be seen east and south of Tampa .  Orlando?   Unknown.

I did see one re-entry photo taken from New Orleans but it may have been to a closer recovery area than Tampa.  This event may not be visible from the more western and southern locations listed above.

I have only seen one re-entry (Crew-7) and it was easy to spot at night.  Binoculars were not needed to initially see it.

CRS-21 as seen from Shell Point beach south of Tallahassee:

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/spacex/status/1785167205539455119

Dragon is on track to splash down off the coast of Florida in one hour at ~1:40 a.m. ET on Tuesday, April 30

https://twitter.com/spacex/status/1785170255331094658

Dragon’s deorbit burn is complete and its nosecone is closed. Splashdown in ~35 minutes off the coast of Florida

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/spacex/status/1785181031492206943

Drogues deployed

https://twitter.com/spacex/status/1785181195539788178

Dragon’s four main parachutes have deployed

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/spacex/status/1785181942125838686

Splashdown of Dragon confirmed, completing SpaceX’s 30th Commercial Resupply Services mission to the @space_station!

Once Dragon has been retrieved by SpaceX’s recovery team, the critical science aboard the spacecraft will be transported via helicopter to @NASAKennedy and provided to researchers

[Targeteer]

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2024/04/30/dragon-spacecraft-splashes-down-completing-resupply-mission/

Dragon Spacecraft Splashes Down Completing Resupply Mission

SpaceX’s uncrewed Dragon cargo spacecraft splashed down at 1:38 a.m. EDT Tuesday off the coast of Tampa, Florida, marking the return of the company’s 30th contracted cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station for NASA. The spacecraft carried more than 4,100 pounds of valuable scientific experiments and other cargo back to Earth.

Next, four SpaceX Crew-8 members will board the Dragon crew spacecraft on  Thursday and undock the vehicle from the forward port of the station’s Harmony module and redock to Harmony’s zenith port. NASA TV coverage will begin on Thursday at 7:30 a.m. Undocking is scheduled at 7:45 a.m. with redocking scheduled at 8:28 a.m.

That will clear the forward port of Harmony for the arrival of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft with Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams aboard on the Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission. They are scheduled to launch at 10:34 pm on Monday, May 6, night atop an Atlas 5 rocket from Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla..

[Lewis007]

https://twitter.com/tweetsiphotos/status/1786259851070374174

[zubenelgenubi]

Thank you, centaurinasa, for the undocking and departure coverage!

[Yellowstone10]

https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1790005042130362505

The Dragon CRS-30 trunk section, jettisoned into orbit on Apr 30,  reentered over Saudi Arabia at 0023 UTC May 13. Debris likely fell in  the desert aong a track 100 km west of Riyadh.