(Updated) NASA, SpaceX prep for Crew-5 return to Earth and 27th resupply mission launch

NASA and SpaceX are gearing up for the launch of the company's 27th commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station, scheduled for 8:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday, March 14. The mission will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will dock autonomously to the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module, delivering new science investigations, supplies, and equipment for space residents. The spacecraft will spend about a month attached to the orbiting outpost before it returns to Earth with research and return cargo.

In parallel, NASA is preparing for the return of the SpaceX Crew-5 mission to Earth from the International Space Station. The SpaceX Dragon Endurance with four crew members is scheduled to depart the space station at 2:05 a.m. EST on Saturday and return to Earth less than 24 hours later.

The quartet, NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, commander and pilot of the spacecraft, respectively, Koichi Wakata of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and Anna Kikina of Roscosmos, will splashdown off the coast of Florida at 9:19 p.m. on Saturday, wrapping up a nearly six-month science mission.

Live launch and departure coverage will air on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency's website.

Tune in as #Crew5 heads home after five months on the @Space_Station!Crew-5 is scheduled to splash down at 9:19pm ET on Saturday, March 11 (0219 UTC March 12). Join us throughout the day for undocking and splashdown coverage on social media and NASA TV: https://t.co/HI298095d9 pic.twitter.com/CxYO4Mseid

— NASA (@NASA) March 9, 2023

Update

NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina splashed down safely in SpaceX's Endurance spacecraft  in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Tampa, Florida, at 9:02 p.m. EST after spending 157 days on the space station.