Ax-2 Astronauts Enter Dragon Freedom, Close Hatch

Ax-2 Astronauts Enter Dragon Freedom, Close Hatch

Ax-2 Commander Peggy Whitson (foreground) and Pilot John Shoffner (background) are suited up and seated inside the SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft preparing to undock from the space station. Credit: NASA TV
Ax-2 Commander Peggy Whitson (foreground) and Pilot John Shoffner (background) are suited up and seated inside the SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft preparing to undock from the space station. Credit: NASA TV

At 9:20 a.m. EDT, the hatch closed between the Dragon spacecraft and the  International Space Station in preparation for undocking and return to Earth of the Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) with astronauts Peggy Whitson, John Shoffner, Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi.

NASA Television will air  live coverage  resuming at 10:45 a.m. in advance of the planned departure of Dragon with undocking about 11:05 a.m. and will continue until about 30 minutes after undocking when joint operations with the Axiom and SpaceX mission teams ends.

Today’s undocking will begin the Ax-2 mission’s journey home with splashdown off the coast of Tampa, Florida, no earlier than approximately 11 p.m. EDT Tuesday, May 30.


Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Mark Garcia

Ax-2 Astronauts Ending Station Mission Live on NASA TV

Ax-2 Astronauts Ending Station Mission Live on NASA TV

The Axiom Mission-2 (Ax-2) and Expedition 69 crew members join each other for a Crew Farewell Ceremony on May 29, 2023. In the front row (from left) are, Ax-2 crew mates Peggy Whitson, Ali Alqarni, John Shoffner, and Rayyanah Barnawi. In the back (from left) are, Expedition 69 crew mates Frank Rubio, Andrey Fedyaev, Sultan Alneyadi, Dmitri Petelin, Sergey Prokopyev, Woody Hoburg, and Stephen Bowen.
The Axiom Mission-2 (Ax-2) and Expedition 69 crew members join each other for a Crew Farewell Ceremony on May 29, 2023. In the front row (from left) are, Expedition 69 Flight Engineer Frank Rubio with Ax-2 crew mates Peggy Whitson, Ali Alqarni, John Shoffner, and Rayyanah Barnawi. In the back (from left) are, Expedition 69 crew mates Andrey Fedyaev, Sultan Alneyadi, Dmitri Petelin, Sergey Prokopyev, Woody Hoburg, and Stephen Bowen.

NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website are providing live coverage from the International Space Station for the closure of the hatches between the station and the Dragon spacecraft to prepare for undocking and departure of the second private astronaut mission to the station, Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2).

Hatch closure is expected at about 9:10 a.m. EDT. The four-member private astronaut crew is scheduled to undock at 11:05 a.m. Tuesday, May 30, to begin the journey home with splashdown off the coast of Florida.

NASA coverage will break following hatch closure and resume at 10:45 a.m. in advance of the planned undocking and will continue until about 30 minutes after undocking when joint operations with the Axiom and SpaceX mission teams ends.

Ax-2 crew members Peggy Whitson, John Shoffner, Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi will complete 10 days in space at the conclusion of their mission. SpaceX Dragon will return to Earth with more than 300 pounds of cargo, including NASA hardware and data from over 20 different experiments.


Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Mark Garcia

TROPICS Prepped to Track Storms

TROPICS Prepped to Track Storms

A Rocket Lab Electron rocket stands on Pad B, Launch Complex 1, in Māhia, New Zealand, just ahead of a successful launch on Friday, May 26, with NASA’s Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) CubeSats payload.

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España es el 25.º signatario de los Acuerdos de Artemis

España es el 25.º signatario de los Acuerdos de Artemis

En una ceremonia celebrada el martes en el Palacio de la Moncloa de Madrid, España se convirtió en el vigésimo quinto país en firmar los Acuerdos de Artemis. El administrador de la NASA, Bill Nelson, participó en la ceremonia de firma por parte de la agencia, y Diana Morant, la ministra de Ciencia e Innovación española, firmó en nombre de España.

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NASA Welcomes Spain as 25th Artemis Accords Signatory

NASA Welcomes Spain as 25th Artemis Accords Signatory

During a ceremony at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid on Tuesday, Spain became the 25th country to sign the Artemis Accords. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson participated in the signing ceremony for the agency, and Diana Morant, Spain’s science and innovation minister, signed on behalf of Spain.

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