NASA will provide live coverage of the upcoming return activities for the agency’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission with NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, KF5LJG, Victor Glover, KI5BKC and Shannon Walker, KD5DXB and Soichi Noguchi, KD5TVP of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) from the International Space Station.

From left to right are Expedition 64 Flight Engineers and SpaceX Crew-1 members Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi. Credits: NASA

The Crew Dragon spacecraft, named Resilience, is scheduled to undock from the space station to begin the journey home at 7:05 a.m. EDT Wednesday, April 28. NASA and SpaceX are targeting 12:40 p.m. for the splashdown and conclusion of the Crew-1 mission. The return to Earth – and activities leading up to the return – will air live on NASA Television, the NASA App, and the agency’s website.

Crew-1 is the first of six crewed missions NASA and SpaceX will fly as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, which worked with the U.S. aerospace industry to return launches with astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from American soil.

In advance of departure from the space station, Crew-1 astronaut and station Commander Shannon Walker of NASA will hand over command of the station to JAXA astronaut and Crew-2 member Akihiko Hoshide during a change of command and farewell event.

The Crew Dragon will autonomously undock, depart the space station, and splash down at one of seven targeted landing zones in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. Resilience also will return to Earth important and time-sensitive research. For normal crew rescue and recovery operations, the NASA and SpaceX teams select two primary splashdown locations from the seven possible locations about two weeks prior to return, with additional decision milestones taking place prior to crew boarding the spacecraft, during free flight, and before Crew Dragon performs a deorbit burn.

NASA and SpaceX closely coordinate with the U.S. Coast Guard to establish a 10-nautical-mile safety zone around the expected splashdown location to ensure safety for the public and for those involved in the recovery operations, as well as the crew aboard the returning spacecraft.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 return coverage is as follows (all times are Eastern):

Monday, April 26
12:30 p.m. – Crew-1 final news conference aboard the International Space Station

Tuesday, April 27
1:25 p.m. – Change of Command and Crew-1 farewell remarks aboard the International Space Station

Wednesday, April 28
4:45 a.m. – NASA TV coverage begins for 5 a.m. hatch closure
6:45 a.m. – NASA TV coverage begins for the 7:05 a.m. undocking
12:40 p.m. – Splashdown (NASA TV will provide continuous coverage from undocking to splashdown)

Learn more about splashdown locations, weather criteria and recovery logistics, at:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-s-spacex-crew-rescue-and-recovery/

See full mission coverage, NASA's commercial crew blog, and more information about the mission at:
https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew