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After nearly two weeks in space, a date has been set for the Ax-1 crew to conclude their historic mission on the International Space Station and return home to Earth.
The integrated teams at Axiom Space, NASA, and SpaceX have agreed on a plan for the Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) crew to undock from the International Space Station at 8:35 p.m. EDT Saturday, April 23, for a 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 of the first private astronaut mission to visit the International Space Station and the return trajectory required to bring the crew and the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft back to Earth safely.
Live coverage of departure activities will begin at 6:15 p.m. EDT on Saturday, with hatch closure targeted for 6:30 p.m. Coverage will resume at 8:15 p.m. for the undocking. Teams will 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.
Ax-1 Commander Michael López-Alegría, Pilot Larry Connor, and Mission Specialists Eytan Stibbe and Mark Pathy will complete 16 days in space at the conclusion of their mission. SpaceX Dragon Endeavour, the Ax-1 spacecraft, will return to Earth with more than 200 pounds of science and supplies, including NASA experiments, hardware and commercial science payloads.
Coverage of the Ax-1 return will include three separate webcasts over two days – hatch closure, undocking, and splashdown. All live coverage will be available at Axiomspace.com
The schedule includes:
HATCH CLOSURE
6:15 p.m. EDT, Saturday, April 23
UNDOCKING
8:15 p.m. EDT, Saturday, April 23
SPLASHDOWN
12:45 p.m. EDT, Sunday, April 24
POST-SPLASHDOWN TELECONFERENCE
5:00 p.m. EDT, Sunday, April 24
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