The remainder of the crew’s time in orbit was spent carrying out nearly 40 science experiments and research, including some that sought to better understand space adaptation syndrome — a type of microgravity-specific motion sickness.
Gillis, a trained violinist, also brought her instrument along for the mission and delivered a rendition of “Rey’s Theme” from “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
Gillis’ music was sent back to Earth using SpaceX’s Starlink as a test of the satellite network’s potential to provide in-space connectivity.
Menon also took time to read a book she coauthored — called “Kisses From Space” — to her family as well as a group of patients from St. Jude Children’s Hospital as part of a fundraiser.
Sunday’s anticipated return marks the conclusion of the third trip to space for the specific Crew Dragon capsule powering the Polaris Dawn mission.
The spacecraft — named “Resilience” by the NASA astronauts onboard its first trip to space in November 2020 called (Crew-1) — flew the 2021 Inspiration 4 mission.
That trip, also funded by Isaacman, saw him and three crewmates circle Earth for three days as part of a fundraiser for childhood cancer research.
