NASA and Partners Now Target Tuesday for Ax-3 Mission Departure
The four Axiom Mission 3 astronauts (front row) and the seven Expedition 70 crew members wave to the camera after greeting each other on Jan. 20, 2024. Credit: NASA TV
NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX now are targeting no earlier than Tuesday, Feb. 6, for the undocking of Axiom Mission 3 from the International Space Station. Teams are standing down from the Monday, Feb. 5, undocking opportunity of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Axiom crew members due to weather conditions off the coast of Florida. The next weather review is planned for 3 p.m. EST Sunday, Feb. 4. NASA will provide additional information on coverage.
Ax-3 Private Astronauts Target Monday to Undock in Dragon
The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft carrying four Axiom MIssion 3 astronauts is pictured docked to the space station on Jan. 20, 2024. Credit: NASA TV
NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX now are targeting no earlier than Monday, Feb. 5, for the undocking of Axiom Mission 3 from the International Space Station. Teams are standing down from the Saturday, Feb. 3, undocking opportunity of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Axiom crew members due to weather conditions off the coast of Florida. The next weather review is planned for 8 p.m. EST Saturday, Feb. 3. NASA will provide additional information on coverage.
Orbital Outpost Prepares for Departure of Ax-3 Astronauts
The 11 crew members representing the Expedition 70 (red shirts) and Axiom Space 3 (dark blue suits) crews gather for a farewell ceremony calling down to mission controllers on Earth. Credit: NASA TV
The Expedition 70 and Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) crews called down to Mission Control on Friday for a farewell ceremony as the four private astronauts target their departure for Saturday morning. The orbital residents aboard the International Space Station worked just half-a-day packing the SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft before going to bed early to get ready for the spacecraft’s undocking.
The Ax-3 private astronauts are in their final day aboard the orbital outpost following two weeks of science and educational activities. The foursome, led by Commander Michael López-Alegría, is currently targeted to undock inside Dragon from the Harmony module’s forward port at 6:05 a.m. EST on Saturday. López-Alegría, along with Pilot Walter Villadei and Mission Specialists Alper Gezeravcı and Marcus Wandt, will then parachute inside Dragon to the splashdown site where support personnel from Axiom Space and SpaceX await their arrival. Mission managers will receive a final weather report before giving the Ax-3 quartet the final go for a splashdown off the coast of Florida.
Space station Commander Andreas Mogensen from ESA (European Space Agency) helped the Ax-3 crewmates wrap up their mission activities helping reconfigure the orbital lab for standard crew operations. NASA Flight Engineers Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara joined in and retrieved station emergency gear from Dragon and stowed science hardware inside the returning spacecraft.
Earlier, O’Hara partnered with astronaut Satoshi Furukawa from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and transferred research samples from the newly arrived Cygnus cargo craft into science freezers aboard the station. Furukawa later swapped out research hardware that supports botany and biology experiments with a minimum of astronaut intervention inside the Columbus laboratory module.
Cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub packed the Progress 85 resupply ship, docked to the Zvezda service module’s rear port, with trash and discarded items before it ends its cargo mission and undocks later this month. Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov spent his shift configuring a variety of experiment hardware. Borisov serviced a camera that observes Earth’s atmosphere in ultraviolet wavelengths, charged hardware that documents crew interactions with mission controllers from around the world, then deactivated medical gear that continuously monitors a crew member’s blood pressure.
NASA Science Arrives on Cygnus; Private Astronauts Prepare for Return
The Cygnus space freighter, with its two cymbal-shaped UltraFlex solar arrays, is pictured in the grips of the Canadarm2 robotic arm after its capture on Feb. 1, 2024.
As part of NASA’s commercial resupply services, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo craft arrived at the International Space Station today packed with science and supplies for the Expedition 70 crew. The seven orbital outpost residents now turn their attention to the departure of four Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) visitors.
About three hours later, O’Hara and NASA Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli equalized pressure between Cygnus and the space station then opened Cygnus’ hatch to begin six months of cargo operations. They were followed by Commander Andreas Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) and Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) who began unpacking new research samples and stowing them inside lab freezers for upcoming science investigations.
Mogensen also helped the four Ax-3 astronauts prepare for their departure from the station aboard the SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft for no earlier than Saturday morning. Mission managers from Axiom Space, SpaceX, and NASA are monitoring weather conditions at the splashdown site off the coast of Florida before making a final undocking decision.
Ax-3 astronauts Michael López-Alegría and Walter Villadei packed completed science experiments in lab freezers and prepared them for stowage aboard their Dragon spacecraft Thursday morning. The duo then joined fellow Ax-3 crewmates Alper Gezeravcı and Marcus Wandt for a conference with mission controllers discussing the cargo that will be returning with them aboard Dragon.
All four private astronauts will join the seven-member Expedition 70 crew at 9:50 a.m. Friday, Feb. 2, for a farewell ceremony aboard the space station. The event will be broadcast live on the NASA+ streaming service, NASA TV, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms, including social media.
The orbiting lab’s three cosmonauts worked throughout Thursday on their complement of science and cargo activities in the station’s Roscosmos segment. Flight Engineers Nikolai Chub and Konstantin Borisov carried out an Earth observation experiment to support educational and commercial opportunities on Earth. Afterward, Chub conducted a fluid physics study while Borisov began a 24-hour blood pressure monitoring session. Borisov later installed an ultraviolet camera to capture nighttime imagery of Earth’s atmosphere. Veteran cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko inventoried cargo in the Prichal docking module then stowed cargo inside the Progress 85 resupply ship docked to the rear of the Zvezda service module.
NASA will share more on Axiom Mission 3’s departure as available following the next weather review. The mission is the third private astronaut mission to the space station enabled by NASA.
The Cygnus space freighter is pictured attached to the space station as the Canadarm2 robotic arm prepares to grapple the cargo craft.
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft installation on the International Space Station is now complete. Cygnus, carrying over 8,200 pounds of cargo and science experiments. At 4:59 a.m., NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara, with NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli acting as backup, captured Cygnus using the International Space Station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm.
The mission launched at 12:07 p.m. EST Jan. 30 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Cygnus will remain at the space station until May when it will depart the orbiting laboratory at which point it will harmlessly burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere.
