Late Tuesday night, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, carrying the Axiom Space Ax-2 crew, successfully splashed down off the coast of Florida after spending 10 days in space. This remarkable feat marks the return of the Ax-2 crew to Earth as they undocked from the International Space Station earlier in the day to embark on their 12-hour journey back home.
At 11:04 p.m. ET, the spacecraft gracefully descended into the Gulf of Mexico, with its main parachutes elegantly deployed. SpaceX shared a video of the splashdown and tweeted, “Splashdown of Dragon confirmed — welcome back to Earth.”
Prior to this momentous event, Axiom, a space infrastructure developer based in Houston, livestreamed the capsule’s undocking from the ISS at 11:05 a.m. EDT. This mission is particularly noteworthy as it represents the second private crew of astronauts on a space mission.
“We received confirmation that Dragon has successfully exited the approach ellipsoid and is continuing its journey back to Earth,” stated NASA’s Mission Control in Houston during the broadcast before handing over the broadcast to Axiom. The four-member crew from Axiom originally lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at the beginning of this month. Notably, mission specialist Rayyanah Barnawi became the first Saudi woman in space and was accompanied by Saudi astronaut Ali al-Qarni. Former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson leads the mission as its commander. Axiom had previously sent its first private astronaut crew to the ISS for a 17-day mission last year.
While aboard the International Space Station, this diverse group of astronauts from different nations conducted over 20 experiments. As the live broadcast drew to a close, Axiom’s Jessie Anderson updated the audience, stating, “In approximately six-and-a-half hours from now, they will dawn their space suits and begin final preparations for the orbit reentry and splashdown. But first, they will enjoy a brief off-duty period and doff their space suits to get a little bit more comfortable for the flight.”
Excitement and anticipation are building as the crew makes their way back to Earth, completing their extraordinary journey in space.
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