Editor's Note, February 3, 2024: NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX are now targeting no later than Monday, February 5, to separate the Axiom Mission 3 vehicle from the International Space Station. Starting Saturday, February 3, the teams are discontinuing the opportunity to de-docking the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Axiom crew members due to weather conditions off the coast of Florida. The next weather review is scheduled for 8pm EST on Saturday, February 3. NASA will provide additional information about coverage.
NASA will provide live coverage of the undocking and departure of the private astronaut flight Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) from the International Space Station before the crew returns to Earth.
The four-person crew of astronauts is scheduled to detach no later than 6:05 a.m. EDT on Saturday, February 3, from the space-facing port of the station's Harmony module on the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to begin the journey home and land off the coast. Florida.
NASA will provide live coverage of joint space station operations with Axiom Space and SpaceX. Coverage of hatch closure preparations will begin at 4 a.m. and NASA coverage of the undocking process will resume at 5:45 a.m.
Coverage will be available on NASA+NASA TV, NASA app, YoutubeAnd the agency's website. Learn how to stream NASA TV across a variety of platforms including social media.
The four astronauts, Michael Lopez-Alegría, Walter Velade, Markus Wandt, and Albert Jezeravci, will spend about two weeks in space at the conclusion of their mission. The Axiom crew, along with Expedition 70, highlighted their stay aboard the space station during the flight Farewell remarks On the Friday before their separation.
The SpaceX Dragon will return to Earth carrying more than 550 pounds of cargo, including NASA instruments and data from more than 30 different experiments the crew conducted during their mission. Splashdown is expected around 7 p.m
Ax-3, the third private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, successfully launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 18.
NASA's coverage of the Ax-3 undocking and departure is as follows (all times are Eastern time and subject to change based on operations):
Saturday 3 February
4 a.m. – NASA coverage begins at 4:15 a.m Close the hatch
5:45 AM – NASA coverage continues until 6:05 AM Undocking
NASA's coverage ends about 30 minutes after separation when joint space station operations with the Axiom Space and SpaceX mission teams end. Axiom Space will resume coverage of Dragon's return to Earth and its landing on the company's soil website.
The Ax-3 mission is part of NASA's efforts to boost the commercial market in low Earth orbit and pursue a new era of space exploration that enables more people and organizations to fly multiple mission objectives. This partnership expands the arc of human spaceflight and opens access to low Earth orbit and the International Space Station to more people, science, and commercial opportunities.
Learn more about how NASA is supporting the space economy in low Earth orbit:
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/commercial-space/
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Julianne Coulter
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
[email protected]
Rebecca Turkington
Johnson Space Center in Houston
281-483-5111
[email protected]
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