Joint operations with the Axiom and SpaceX mission teams end and NASA protection of the mission concludes when the spacecraft exits the area of the spaceport station, approximately 30 minutes after undocking.
Axiom Space leads independent objective operations for Ax-1 and will resume coverage of Dragons re-entry and splashdown starting about an hour prior to splashdown at 12 p.m. Monday, April 25, on the companys website.
The SpaceX Dragon Endeavour team ship bring 4 Axiom Mission 1 astronauts approaches the International Space Station less than a day after launching from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Both spacecraft were orbiting 257 miles above the Atlantic Ocean northwest of the island nation of The Republic of Cabo Verde, which is off the coast of Dakar, Senegal, in Africa. Credit: NASA
The SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft undocked from the space-facing port of the International Space Stations Harmony module at 9:10 p.m. EDT to finish the very first all-private astronaut objective to the orbiting laboratory, Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1). The hatch was closed in between the Dragon Endeavour spacecraft and the International Space Station at 7:26 p.m. EDT, in preparation for undocking and go back to Earth.
The Crew Dragon is slowly maneuvering far from the orbital laboratory into an orbital track that will return the astronaut crew and its cargo securely to Earth, targeting a splashdown off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, targeted for 1:06 p.m. EDT Monday, April 25.
April 24, 2022: International Space Station Configuration. Five spaceships are parked at the spaceport station consisting of the SpaceX Dragon Endurance; the Northrop Grumman Cygnus area freighter; and Russias Soyuz MS-21 team ship and the Progress 79 and 80 resupply ships. Credit: NASA
Ax-1 Commander Michael López-Alegría, Pilot Larry Connor, and Mission Specialists Eytan Stibbe and Mark Pathy will finish 17 days in space at the conclusion of their objective. SpaceX Dragon Endeavour, the Ax-1 spacecraft, will return to Earth with more than 200 pounds of science and products, including NASA experiments and hardware.