NASA astronauts aim for Florida coast to end SpaceX flight
Cape Canaveral: The first astronauts launched by Elon Musk's SpaceX company departed the International Space Station on Saturday night for the final and most important part of their test flight: returning to Earth with a rare splashdown.
NASA's Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken bid farewell to the three men left behind as their SpaceX Dragon capsule undocked and headed toward a Sunday afternoon descent by parachute into the Gulf of Mexico.
Despite Tropical Storm Isaias' surge toward Florida's Atlantic shore, NASA said the weather looked favourable off the coast of Pensacola on the extreme opposite side of the state.
It will be the first splashdown for astronauts in 45 years. The last time was following the joint U.S.-Soviet mission in 1975 known as Apollo-Soyuz.
Space station commander Chris Cassidy rang the ship's bell as Dragon pulled away, 267 miles (430 kilometers) above Johannesburg, South Africa. Within a few minutes, all that could be seen of the capsule was a pair of flashing lights against the black void of space.
"It's been a great two months, and we appreciate all you've done as a crew to help us prove out Dragon on its maiden flight, Hurley radioed to the space station.
Safe travels," Cassidy replied, and have a successful landing." The astronauts' homecoming will cap a mission that ended a prolonged launch drought in the U.S., which has relied on Russian rockets to ferry astronauts to the space station since the end of the shuttle era.
In launching Hurley and Behnken from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on May 30, SpaceX became the first private company to send people into orbit. Now SpaceX is on the verge of becoming the first company to bring people back from orbit.
The hardest part was getting us launched, but the most important is bringing us home, Behnken said several hours before strapping into the Dragon.
A successful splashdown, Behnken said, will bring U.S.-crew launching capability full circle.
At a farewell ceremony earlier in the day, Cassidy, who will remain on board with two Russians until October, presented Hurley with the small U.S. flag left behind by the previous astronauts to launch to the space station from U.S. soil. Hurley was the pilot of that final shuttle mission in July 2011.
The flag which also flew on the first shuttle flight in 1981 became a prize for the company that launched astronauts first.
SpaceX easily beat Boeing, which isn't expected to launch its first crew until next year and will land in the U.S. Southwest. The flag has one more flight after this one: to the moon on NASA's Artemis program in the next few years.
We're a little sad to see them go," Cassidy said, but very excited for what it means to our international space program to add this capability of commercial crew capsules. The next SpaceX crew flight is targeted for the end of September.
Hurley and Behnken also are bringing back a sparkly blue and purple dinosaur named Tremor. Their young sons chose the toy to accompany their fathers on the historic mission.
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Rupee falls 11 paise to 94.27 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 11 paise to 94.27 against US dollar in early trade on Monday driven by persistent dollar demand and a broader shift toward safe-haven assets.
Forex traders said the Indian rupee has hit a rough patch, falling for five consecutive sessions, weighed down by a combination of factors such as the RBI loosening its grip on currency rules and rising oil prices caused by global tensions.
Moreover, investors are becoming cautious again, with foreign institutions pulling money out of the market after a brief period of buying amid rising geopolitical uncertainty.
At the interbank foreign exchange market the rupee opened at 94.25 against the US dollar, then lost some ground and touched 94.27 against the US dollar in initial trade, registering a fall of 11 paise over its previous close. On Friday, the rupee had settled at 94.16 against the American currency.
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Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was down 0.09 per cent at 98.44.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 1.16 per cent at USD 106.55 per barrel in futures trade.
A mix of softer economic signals and renewed, even if fragile, hopes of diplomacy pulled the dollar lower again, CR Forex Advisors MD Amit Pabari said, adding that for Rupee, on one hand, a softer dollar offers relief. On the other, uncertainty remains the dominant force.
Meanwhile, India’s forex reserves have crossed USD 703 billion as of April 17, reflecting a consistent build-up of buffers.
"For now, the rupee continues to lean toward gradual weakness. Uncertainty remains the dominant force, shaping both global flows and local reactions," Pabari said.
He further noted that any dips are likely to be bought into, with the 92.80–93.20 zone acting as a strong support. On the upside, 93.50 to 94.50 is expected to define the near-term range.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex was trading 518.96 points or 0.68 per cent higher at 77,183.17, while the broader Nifty was trading up 131.30 points or 0.55 per cent at 24,029.25.
Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth Rs 8,827.87 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
