So hopefully that will make a positive impact on the next generation. “Also, too, we conducted as a team over 15 educational outreach to youth all across the world, not just in the United States.
“We were able to accomplish our objectives and hopefully it will lead to some great groundbreaking research,” Connor said. SpaceX’s Dragon Endeavour spacecraft completed the 21-hour pursuit of the space station for an automated docking April 9.ĭuring their time in space, the Ax-1 crew members have performed research experiments and participated in public outreach and educational events with organizations on the ground. The mission is an all-commercial affair, and is the first of its kind. López-Alegría and his crewmates launched April 8 from the Kennedy Space Center. The other crew members for the Axiom mission are pilot Larry Connor and mission specialists Eytan Stibbe and Mark Pathy, three investors and entrepreneurs who paid for their rides. The Ax-1 mission is commanded by Michael López-Alegría, a retired NASA astronaut and now an employee of Axiom Space, the Houston-based company managing the private astronaut flight. SpaceX’s Dragon Endeavour spacecraft docked at the Harmony module on the International Space Station. After a handover with the Crew-4 astronauts lasting nearly a week, Crew-3 mission is scheduled to undock from the station in SpaceX’s Dragon Endurance spacecraft around April 30 for return to Earth. The Crew-4 mission is set to begin a nearly five-month expedition on the International Space Station, replacing the outgoing team of Crew-3 astronauts who have been on the station since November. The Crew-4 mission has backup launch opportunities extending into next week. EDT (0926 GMT) Saturday.īut SpaceX and NASA require a couple of days between the return of a Dragon crew capsule and the launch of the next Dragon astronaut mission. That mission, designated Crew-4, is scheduled to launch on SpaceX’s Dragon Freedom spacecraft - another vehicle in SpaceX’s fleet - from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center no earlier than 5:26 a.m. The delays in returning the Ax-1 crew will likely push back the launch of the next long-duration crew to the space station. At least two sites must have “go” conditions forecast before a crew undocks from the space station. The company monitors for wind speeds, wave height and period, lightning, and rainfall before determining if conditions are acceptable for a safe crew return. SpaceX has seven splashdown locations available off Florida’s East Coast and Gulf Coast. But that assumes good weather in the recovery zones in the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean. NASA’s mission control radioed the space station crew early Wednesday that the earliest opportunity for the Axiom mission, known as Ax-1, to undock from the complex would be around 8 p.m. “The integrated NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX teams are continuing to assess the next best opportunity for return of the first private astronaut mission to the orbiting laboratory based on weather conditions and space station operations,” NASA said in a post on its website. Officials decided Tuesday to forego an undocking late Tuesday night, which would have led to a splashdown Wednesday afternoon. But ground teams waved off that departure opportunity because of unfavorable weather at the return site. The Axiom crew, which arrived at the station April 9 aboard SpaceX’s Dragon Endeavour spacecraft, was supposed to undock from the outpost Tuesday morning and head for a parachute-assisted splashdown Wednesday morning. Managers have extended their stay until at least Thursday night due to bad weather in SpaceX’s splashdown zones off the coast of Florida. The four-man crew flying on Axiom’s first private mission to the International Space Station is getting some extra time on the orbiting complex this week. The 11-person crew currently on-board the International Space Station, including the Ax-1 commercial astronauts wearing blue flight suits.
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