High winds prompt splashdown delay for returning space station astronauts
CBSN
Faced with high winds in the Gulf of Mexico, NASA managers decided to pass up a Sunday undocking and Monday morning splashdown for four returning space station astronauts, opting instead to aim for a landing Monday night when better weather is expected.
Crew-2 commander Shane Kimbrough, Megan McArthur, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Pesquet and Japanese flier Akihiko Hoshide had planned to depart the International Space Station at 12 p.m. EST Sunday for a splashdown at 7:14 a.m. Monday.
But after an early morning weather assessment, undocking was moved back to 2:05 p.m. Monday, setting up splashdown at 10:33 p.m. that night. While the preferred landing zone is in the Gulf of Mexico, mission managers will choose a primary and backup site after additional weather assessments.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.