The private mission of the Ax-1 astronauts will now leave the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday night (April 23), if all goes according to plan.
The four Ax-1 he was originally scheduled to leave on Tuesday (April 19th) after a 10-day stay aboard the orbital laboratory. But bad weather forecasts in the mission area off the coast of Florida rejected this planforcing mission team members to reassess.
It took a few days, but there is already a new schedule: Ax-1 SpaceX The Dragon capsule will detach from the ISS on Saturday at 20:35 EDT (00:35 GMT on April 24) and will burst on Sunday (April 24) at around 13:46 EDT (1746 GMT), weather permitting, officials said. NASA.
Live updates: Private mission Ax-1 to the space stationRelated: See amazing photos of the launch and mission of the private astronaut Ax-1 on SpaceX
“The decision was made based on the best time to launch the first private astronaut mission he visited. International Space Station and the return trajectory needed for the safe return of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavor crew and spacecraft back to Earth “, agency officials wrote in an update on Wednesday night (20 April).
“The teams will continue to monitor the weather at the spray sites before unplugging to ensure that conditions are acceptable for the safe recovery of Ax-1 astronauts and the Dragon spacecraft,” they added, stressing that there are enough supplies to support members. of the Ax-1 crew and the other seven astronauts currently aboard the station.
Ax-1 is organized by the company Houston Axiom space and is managed by SpaceX. The mission is commanded by former NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Allegria, who now serves as Axiom’s vice president of business development. The other three crew members are paying customers – American Larry Connor, Canadian Mark Patti and Israeli Eitan Stibe.
The new Ax-1 take-off plan concerns another SpaceX mission – Crew-4, which will deliver three NASA astronauts and a European Space Agency spacecraft to the ISS for a long stay. Crew-4 was scheduled to launch on Saturday, but this is no longer in the maps; The mission will use the ISS docking port, which is currently occupied by Ax-1, and NASA officials have said they want to leave a two-day window between the launch of Ax-1 and the take-off of Crew-4 to allow analysis of data and other preparations.
“The earliest potential opportunity to launch the Crew-4 mission is 4:15 a.m. [EDT] Tuesday, April 26, with additional features Wednesday, April 27, and Thursday, April 28, “NASA officials wrote in Wednesday’s update.” These launch options have undergone a more detailed review of the program to ensure that are in line with the integrated operational deadlines. “
You can follow all these activities – unplugging the Ax-1 and returning to Earth, and launching the Crew-4 and traveling to the ISS – here at Space.com when the time comes.
Mike Wall is the author of “Out there“(Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Carl Tate), a book about the search for extraterrestrial life. Follow it on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or on Facebook.
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