Ax-1 Pilot Larry Connor takes Earth Observation photos from on board the ISS. Image credit: Michael López-Alegría
The Ax-1 crew’s visit to the International Space Station (ISS) has been extended due to unfavorable weather, this brings their total time currently spent in space to 14 days. They are readying for their departure to head home to Earth after a new date for return has been set for this weekend by the integrated teams at Axiom Space, NASA, and SpaceX.
The Ax-1 astronauts are now scheduled to undock from the ISS at 6:35 p.m. EDT Saturday, April 23 and will splashdown off the coast of Florida about 1:46 p.m. Sunday, April 24. The decision was made based on the best weather for splashdown and return trajectory required to bring the crew and the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft back to Earth safely.
Find more information on live coverage for the Ax-1 crew’s return
As the crew awaits to depart, they continue to carefully pack up cargo and payloads and prepare the Dragon spacecraft for the flight home. The crew is helping store cargo and tending to any other housekeeping tasks to ensure the orbiting laboratory is in order upon Crew-4's arrival.
In addition, the astronauts are doing refresher training for undocking and splashdown operations.
Axiom, NASA, and SpaceX teams continue to monitor weather at the splashdown sites prior to undocking to ensure conditions are acceptable for a safe recovery of the Ax-1 astronauts and Dragon spacecraft.
The return of the Ax-1 crew will mark the completion of the first-ever fully private mission to the ISS and signal the beginning of a new era in human spaceflight, further expanding opportunities for individuals, nations and researchers to access and utilize the countless opportunities microgravityl has to offer.