This Sunday evening, the Dragon capsule will dock with the space station. A moment that can be experienced with the naked eye from the south of France.
Departing Saturday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, two astronauts will attach to the space station (ISS) this Sunday evening around 11 p.m.
However, for several days, the ISS has been flying over the south-west of France, passing almost over Carcassonne, Narbonne and Perpignan. If the sky remains sufficiently clear, the space station will therefore be widely visible this Sunday evening, twice.
It was the specialized account Ovni 66 which specified, on its X account, that the two passages of the ISS are scheduled for 7:58 p.m. and 9:35 p.m. “It’s not completely impossible that we can make out the Dragon capsule!” enthused these Catalan enthusiasts of flying objects, whether identified or not.
This Sunday 29/09 evening, since #Perpignan and 66 it is necessary to monitor the 2 passages of the ISS because it is not totally impossible that we can distinguish the Dragon capsule! Tie-down planned around 11 p.m.
u23f0 19h58 NO
u23f0 9:35 p.m. O11 ud83dudc69ud83dude80 ISS + 2 ud83dudc69ud83dude80 Dragonhttps://t.co/dewIB8WT8V
— OVNI66 (@OVNI66) https://twitter.com/OVNI66/status/1840409193213219152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
An 8-day trip that will last 8 months
As a reminder, the Dragon capsule took off from Florida with the objective of bringing back two American astronauts stuck in the space station for many months.
Arriving at the space station (ISS) at the beginning of June aboard the Starliner, a new spacecraft developed by Boeing, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were to stay only 8 days before returning to Earth. But the Starliner, which was its first crewed test flight to the ISS, encountered problems in its propulsion system.
NASA preferred to return the spacecraft to Earth empty and is counting on the SpaceX mission called Crew-9 to bring back the two American astronauts.
The Dragon capsule will be attached to the ISS this Sunday but it will not be until February that Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams should be able to return to Earth during the return flight, 8 months after the planned date.
