Editor’s Remark, February 3, 2024 Axiom Mission 3’s undocking from the International Space Station is now scheduled for no sooner than Monday, February 5, according to NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX. Due to weather circumstances off the coast of Florida, teams are withdrawing from the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Axiom crew undocking opportunity scheduled for Saturday, February 3. The following weather review is scheduled for Saturday, February 3, at 8 p.m. EST. NASA will offer more details about coverage.
Before the crew returns to Earth, NASA will broadcast live footage of the undocking and departure of the Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) private astronaut flight from the International Space Station.
In order to start their voyage home and splashdown off the coast of Florida, the four-person astronaut crew is planned to undock in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from the space-facing port of the station’s Harmony module no earlier than 6:05 a.m. EST on Saturday, February 3.
Live coverage of cooperative space station operations by Axiom Space and SpaceX will be provided by NASA. At four in the morning, the hatch-closure preparations will be covered. NASA will start up again with undocking coverage at 5:45 a.m.
The agency’s website, YouTube, NASA+, NASA Television, and the NASA app will all have coverage. Discover how to watch NASA TV on a range of devices, such as social media.
At the end of their mission, Michael Lopez-Alegría, Walter Villadei, Marcus Wandt, and Alper Gezeravci, the four private astronauts, will have spent almost two weeks in space. In eulogy delivered on Friday before their undocking, the Axiom crew and Expedition 70 emphasised their time spent on the space station.
More than 550 pounds of cargo, including NASA hardware and data from more than 30 separate experiments the crew carried out during the trip, will be carried down to Earth by their SpaceX Dragon. Around 7 p.m., splashdown is anticipated.
Jan. 18 saw the successful launch of Ax-3, the third all-private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
NASA will be covering the undocking and departure of Ax-3 at the following times (all Eastern; subject to change based on operations):
February 3rd, Saturday
NASA begins coverage at 4 a.m. and closes the hatch at 4:15 a.m.
5:45 a.m.: NASA continues to cover undocking until 6:05 a.m.
NASA’s coverage ceases when cooperative space station operations with Axiom Space and SpaceX mission crews conclude, which is approximately half an hour after undocking. On its website, Axiom Space will once again provide coverage of Dragon’s splashdown and re-entry.
As part of its efforts to support a low-Earth orbit commercial sector and to usher in a new era of space exploration that will allow more individuals and organisations to fly multiple mission objectives, NASA is pursuing the Ax-3 project. Through this collaboration, more people, scientists, and businesses will have access to low Earth orbit and the International Space Station, broadening the arc of human spaceflight.
