Following an 8-day stay aboard the International Space Station, the Axiom-2 crew made a fiery plunge back through Earth’s atmosphere to a splashdown just off the coast of Panama City, Florida, within the Gulf of Mexico.
This was the second flight of Crew Dragon Freedom, previously supporting the launch and landing of the Crew 4 mission.
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Crew Dragon Freedom awaits being lifted onto the recovery ship within the Gulf of Mexico (Credit SpaceX)
About 12 hours after undocking from the International Space Station, Crew Dragon Freedom splashed down at 11:04 PM ET. SpaceX recovery ship was awaiting the crew, and shortly after landing, they were disembarked and flown to Houston via helicopter.
The crew of Axiom 2 consisted of Commander Peggy Whitson, Pilot John Shoffner, Mission Specialist Ali Alqarni, and Mission Specialist Rayyanah Barnawi, and while aboard the orbiting outpost, they performed many experiments starting from cancer research, effects of microgravity on stem cells, and the way the human body responds to space travel.
Commander Peggy Whitson prolonged her record of time in space to 675 days, essentially the most of any American, previously flying for NASA before retiring in 2018 after which joining Axiom as Director of Human Space Flight. The three other members of this mission each on their first flight to space, received their Astronaut Wings throughout the welcoming ceremony after arriving aboard the ISS.
Splashdown of Dragon confirmed – welcome back to Earth, @AstroPeggy, @JohnPShoffner, @AstroAli11, and @Astro_Rayyanah pic.twitter.com/2kXUO8FDlv
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 31, 2023
One other aspect of this mission can also be preparing for Axiom to start out sending up their very own modules to connect to the Internation Space Station starting no sooner than 2025. Axiom recently took ownership of the previous Space Shuttle Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and can convert it to make use of as their research and manufacturing facility once in orbit.
There might be as much as 4 modules sent to be attached to the ISS, and once the ISS is decommissioned, they are going to separate from the outpost and form their very own space station and will turn out to be the primary privately owned space station.
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Render of Axiom Station attached to the ISS (Credit Axiom)
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