Axiom Mission 1 Astronauts Close Hatch to Dragon Endeavour

Six spaceships are parked at the space station including the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour that will return the Axiom MIssion 1 astronauts back to Earth.
Six spaceships are parked at the space station including the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour that will return the Axiom MIssion 1 astronauts back to Earth.

At  7:26 p.m. EDT, the hatch closed between the Dragon Endeavour spacecraft and the  International Space Station  in preparation for undocking and return to Earth of the Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) with astronauts Michael Lopez-Alegria, Larry Connor, Eytan Stibbe, and Mark Pathy.

NASA Television will air  live coverage  resuming at 8:30 p.m. in advance of the planned departure of Dragon Endeavour with undocking at 9:10 p.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-1 mission’s journey home with splashdown off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, no earlier 1:06 p.m. EDT Monday, April 25.


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.

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NASA TV Broadcasts Departure of Axiom Mission 1 Astronauts

The SpaceX Dragon Endeavour carrying four Axiom Mission 1 astronauts is pictured approaches the International Space Station on April 9, 2022.
The SpaceX Dragon Endeavour carrying four Axiom Mission 1 astronauts is pictured approaches the International Space Station on April 9, 2022.

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 Endeavour spacecraft to prepare for undocking and departure of the first private astronaut mission to the station, Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1).

Hatch closure is expected at about 6:50 p.m. EDT. The four-member private astronaut crew is scheduled to undock at 8:55 p.m. Sunday, April 24, to begin the journey home with splashdown off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, targeted for about 1:06 p.m. EDT Monday, April 25.

NASA coverage will break following hatch closure and resume at 8:30 p.m. in advance of the planned undocking at 8:55 p.m. and will continue until about 30 minutes after undocking when joint operations with the Axiom and SpaceX mission teams ends.

Ax-1 Commander Michael López-Alegría, Pilot Larry Connor, and Mission Specialists Eytan Stibbe and Mark Pathy will complete 17 days in space at the conclusion of their mission. SpaceX Dragon Endeavour, the Ax-1 spacecraft, will return to Earth with more than 200 pounds of science and supplies, including NASA experiments and hardware.

The Ax-1 mission represents both a culmination of NASA’s efforts to foster a commercial market in low-Earth orbit and the beginning of a new era of space exploration that enables more people to fly on more kinds of missions.


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.

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Teams are Go for Axiom Mission 1 Undocking Tonight

The SpaceX Dragon Endeavour crew ship that carried four Axiom Mission 1 astronauts to the space station is pictured docked to the Harmony module.
The SpaceX Dragon Endeavour crew ship that carried four Axiom Mission 1 astronauts to the space station is pictured docked to the Harmony module.

At the conclusion of a weather briefing today, NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX teams elected to proceed with today’s undocking of the Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) from the International Space Station at 8:55 p.m. EDT.

Ax-1 Commander Michael López-Alegría, Pilot Larry Connor, and Mission Specialists Eytan Stibbe and Mark Pathy are targeted to close the hatch about 6:50 p.m.  to begin the journey home in SpaceX Dragon Endeavour with splashdown off the coast of Florida approximately 1:06 p.m. Monday, April 25.

NASA Ax-1 return coverage is as follows (all times Eastern):

Sunday, April 24 

  • 6:30 p.m. – Coverage begins for hatch closure at approximately 6:50 p.m.
  • 8:30 p.m. – Coverage begins for undocking at about 8:55 p.m.

Axiom Space will resume coverage of Dragon’s re-entry and splashdown beginning at noon Monday, April 25, on the company’s website.


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.

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Axiom Mission 1 Undock Postponed to Sunday, Space Station Reboosts

The full quarter Moon is pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 261 miles above the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida on April 9, 2022.
The full quarter Moon is pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 261 miles above the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida on April 9, 2022.

At the conclusion of a weather briefing ahead of today’s planned undocking, NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX teams elected to wave off today’s undocking attempt due to a diurnal low wind trough which has been causing marginally high winds at the splashdown sites. The Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) crew is now targeting to undock from the International Space Station 8:55 p.m. EDT Sunday, April 24.

Weather permitting, the Ax-1 crew is targeted to close the hatch about 6:45 p.m. Sunday, April 24, to begin the journey home in SpaceX Dragon Endeavour with splashdown off the coast of Florida approximately 1:00 p.m. Monday, April 25.

NASA Ax-1 return coverage is as follows (all times Eastern):

Sunday, April 24

  • 6:30 p.m. – Coverage begins for hatch closure at approximately 6:45 p.m.
  • 8:30 p.m. – Coverage begins for undocking at about 8:55 p.m.

Axiom Space will resume coverage of Dragon’s re-entry and splashdown beginning at noon Monday, April 25, on the company’s website.

The Russian Progress 79 fired its thrusters for 10 minutes, 23 seconds today at 9:25 a.m. This space station reboost maneuver optimizes phasing for future visiting vehicles arriving at the station. The reboost increased the orbiting laboratory’s altitude by 9/10 of a mile at apogee and 1.3 miles at perigee and left the station in an orbit of 264.7 x 254.2 statute miles.


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Ax-1 Departure and Spacewalk Preps Wrap Up Work Week

The full quarter Moon is pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 261 miles above the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida on April 9, 2022.
The full quarter Moon is pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 261 miles above the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida on April 9, 2022.

The Expedition 67 crew is gearing up for the departure of the first private astronaut mission and another spacewalk at the International Space Station. There was still time onboard the orbiting lab on Friday for biomedical science to understand how the human body adapts to microgravity.

NASA’s station Commander Tom Marshburn spent some time on Friday assisting the four outgoing Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) crew members. The first private space quartet is getting ready to end a two-week stay at the station this weekend. Ax-1 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria will board the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour with Pilot Larry Connor and Mission Specialists Mark Pathy and Eytan Stibbe and close the hatch at 4:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday. The four Ax-1 astronauts will then undock at 6:35 p.m. from the Harmony module’s space-facing port for splashdown on Sunday off the coast of Florida.

The next mission event planned at the station is the fifth spacewalk of the year for more maintenance and upgrades at the station. Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev will partner up once again on April 28 to continue activating the European robotic arm (ERA) attached to the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module.

The duo joined their fellow cosmonaut Sergey Korsakov on Friday morning and reviewed the tasks planned for the upcoming spacewalk. That excursion will see the ERA’s first motion setting up the manipulator for future robotic activities on the station’s Russian segment. The trio then spent the rest of Friday on a variety of inspection and maintenance tasks.

Flight Engineers Kayla Barron of NASA and Matthias Maurer of ESA (European Space Agency) processed blood and urine samples during the morning for later analysis. NASA Flight Engineer Raja Chari worked on life support gear then joined Marshburn for pre-departure activities inside the Dragon Endurance crew ship.


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Station Crew Busy with Research as Managers Work Ax-1, Crew-4 Missions

The SpaceX Dragon Endurance crew ship is pictured from a window aboard the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour crew ship.
The SpaceX Dragon Endurance crew ship is pictured from a window aboard the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour crew ship.

The four private astronauts from Axiom Space are now due to depart the International Space Station on Saturday night and return to Earth the next day. Four commercial crew astronauts are also looking ahead to their mission aboard the orbiting lab set to begin after the Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) crew departs.

NASA, SpaceX and Axiom Space are planning for the Ax-1 crew to undock from the station inside the Dragon Endeavour crew ship on Saturday at 6:35 p.m. EDT. Ax-1 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria will lead Pilot Larry Connor and Mission Specialists Mark Pathy and Eytan Stibbe back to Earth inside Endeavour for a splash down at 1:46 p.m. on Sunday off the coast of Florida.

The SpaceX Crew-4 mission awaits its launch date as mission managers monitor weather conditions at the Ax-1 splashdown site and review mission data after Endeavour’s return. The Falcon 9 rocket that will the launch the Crew-4 astronauts to space inside the Dragon Freedom crew ship successfully fired its nine Merlin engines on Wednesday during its static fire test. In the meantime, Crew-4 Commander Kjell Lindgren with Pilot Robert Hines and Mission Specialists Jessica Watkins and Samantha Cristoforetti, continue training for their mission while in quarantine at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Operations on the station continue normally, as the four Expedition 67 astronauts worked on an array of space research on Thursday. Commander Tom Marshburn of NASA joined ESA (European Space Agency) Flight Engineer Matthias Maurer for muscle measurements and ultrasound scans. The duo contributed to the Myotones human research experiment to understand how weightlessness affects the biochemical properties of muscles. NASA Flight Engineers Kayla Barron and Raja Chari collected blood and urine samples and stowed them in science freezer for future analysis for more insights into spaceflight’s impact on the human body. The quartet also checked out their Dragon spacesuits as they look ahead to their departure inside the Dragon Endurance soon after the Crew-4 astronauts begin their station mission.

The three cosmonauts living and working on the orbital lab focused on their suite of science and upkeep tasks. Veteran cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev studied piloting techniques that may be used on future planetary or robotic missions. Roscosmos Flight Engineer Denis Matveev attached a heart monitor to himself then photographed the condition of Russian module windows. Roscosmos Flight Engineer Sergey Korsakov pursued cardiac research during the morning before working on Russian life support and photography gear.

Station Crew Awaits Ax-1 Departure and Crew-4 Launch

International Space Station Configuration. Six spaceships are parked at the space station including the SpaceX Dragons Endurance and Endeavour; the Northrop Grumman Cygnus space freighter; and Russia's Soyuz MS-21 crew ship and the Progress 79 and 80 resupply ships.
International Space Station Configuration. Six spaceships are parked at the space station including the SpaceX Dragons Endurance and Endeavour; the Northrop Grumman Cygnus space freighter; and Russia’s Soyuz MS-21 crew ship and the Progress 79 and 80 resupply ships.

The integrated NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX teams have agreed on a plan for the Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) crew to undock from the International Space Station at 8:35 p.m. EDT Saturday, April 23, for a splashdown off the coast of Florida about 1:46 p.m. Sunday, April 24. The decision was made based on the best weather for splashdown of the first private astronaut mission to visit the International Space Station and the return trajectory required to bring the crew and the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft back to Earth safely.

NASA will provide live coverage of departure activities beginning at 6:15 p.m. Saturday, April 23, with hatch closure targeted for 6:30 p.m. Coverage will resume at 8:15 p.m. for the undocking. Teams will continue to monitor weather at the splashdown sites prior to undocking to ensure conditions are acceptable for a safe recovery of the Ax-1 astronauts and Dragon spacecraft.

NASA and Axiom mission planning prepared for the possibility of additional time on station for the private astronauts, and there are sufficient provisions for all 11 crew members aboard the space station. The Ax-1 crew continues to work through previously planned mission activities. The Ax-1 crew and Dragon spacecraft remain healthy.

The departure of Dragon Endeavour from the space station will clear the docking port for the arrival of Dragon Freedom and NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts. The earliest potential launch opportunity for the Crew-4 mission is 4:15 a.m. Tuesday, April 26, with additional opportunities Wednesday, April 27, and Thursday, April 28. These launch opportunities are undergoing a more detailed program review to ensure they align with integrated operational timelines. The teams want to provide a two-day gap after Ax-1 return for data reviews from splashdown and to prepare for the Crew-4 launch, including the staging of recovery assets.

The Crew-4 astronauts spent last night at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida rehearsing the countdown to their launch inside the SpaceX Dragon Freedom, the company’s newest crew ship. Overnight, Crew-4 Commander Kjell Lindgren, Pilot Robert Hines with Mission Specialists Jessica Watkins and Samantha Cristoforetti, put on their pressure suits and entered their vehicle conducting a successful dry dress rehearsal. The Falcon 9 rocket, with the Freedom perched atop, stands at Launch Complex 39A.

Expedition 67 crewmates Raja Chari and Tom Marshburn, who are also the SpaceX Crew-3 commander and pilot respectively, spent a little time on Wednesday with their upcoming departure activities. The pair, along with Kayla Barron of NASA and Matthias Maurer of ESA, will wait for the arrival of their Crew-4 replacements before returning to Earth a few days later inside the Dragon Endurance vehicle. The four astronauts had a light-duty day on Wednesday scheduling in some housecleaning tasks.

Over in the Russian segment of the station, cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev wrapped up their post-spacewalk activities today stowing their tools and discussing the excursion with specialists on the ground. The duo kicked off a series of spacewalks on April 18 to configure the European robotic arm for operations on the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module. Roscosmos Flight Engineer Sergey Korsakov started his day with electronics and communications maintenance before studying future spacecraft and robotic piloting techniques in the afternoon.

Ax-1 Crew Preps for Departure as Crew-4 Mission Nears Launch

The Expedition 67 crew said farewell to the Axiom Mission 1 crew today ahead of their departure planned for Tuesday night.
The Expedition 67 crew said farewell to the Axiom Mission 1 crew today ahead of their departure planned for Tuesday night.

Commander Tom Marshburn of NASA joined his six Expedition 67 flight engineers and held a farewell ceremony for the four-member Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) crew on Tuesday morning. At the same time back on Earth, four SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to prepare for their launch to the International Space Station this weekend.

Watch the Axiom Mission 1 farewell ceremony on YouTube.

Marshburn called down to Mission Control today to recognize the contribution the four Ax-1 private astronauts have made to human spaceflight. The private quartet then spoke about the research and education events they conducted and thanked the Expedition 67 crew for hosting and guiding them during their 10-day stay on the station. Ax-1 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria will lead Pilot Larry Connor and Mission Specialists Mark Pathy and Eytan Stibbe back to Earth inside the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour. They will undock from the Harmony module’s space-facing port at 10 p.m. EDT today live on NASA TV on NASA’s website and the app. The foursome will splashdown off the coast of Florida on Wednesday afternoon.

The current seven-member Expedition 67 crew will sleep in on Wednesday following the late night departure of the Ax-1 crew. The four astronauts and three cosmonauts will get right back to work on Thursday with more science and maintenance. Marshburn and NASA Flight Engineers Raja Chari and Kayla Barron along with ESA (European Space Agency) Flight Engineer Matthias Maurer will also check out their Crew Dragon suits ahead of their departure aboard the SpaceX Dragon Endurance in a couple of weeks. Roscosmos Flight Engineers Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev, and Sergey Korsakov will tend to their complement of Russian space research and lab upkeep tasks.

The station will stay at a seven-member crew status for just a few days until the arrival of the SpaceX Crew-4 mission. Four commercial crew astronauts representing NASA and ESA are scheduled to launch at 5:26 a.m. EDT on Saturday from Kennedy inside the SpaceX Dragon Freedom crew ship and dock to the same port vacated by the Ax-1 mission on Sunday at 6 a.m. The quartet commanded by NASA’s Kjell Lindgren, with Pilot Robert Hines and Mission Specialists Jessica Watkins of NASA and ESA’s Samantha Cristoforetti, will live and work aboard the orbiting lab for just over four-and-a-half months. The Crew-4 astronauts will become Expedition 67 flight engineers after they open the hatches and enter the space station.


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.

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Axiom Mission 1: Dragon Endeavour Departure Postponed

The SpaceX Dragon Endeavour carrying four Axiom Mission 1 astronauts approaches the International Space Station on April 9, 2022, less than a day after launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Pictured above Earth's horizon is the first quarter Moon.
The SpaceX Dragon Endeavour carrying four Axiom Mission 1 astronauts approaches the International Space Station on April 9, 2022, less than a day after launching from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Mission Control has informed the Expedition 67 and Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) crews aboard the International Space Station that because of unfavorable weather at the splashdown location for recovery of the Dragon Endeavour and the Ax-1 crew, the integrated operations team at NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX has postponed the spacecraft’s planned departure from the orbiting laboratory.

Weather permitting, the four-member private astronaut crew now is targeted to undock at about 10 p.m. Tuesday, April 19, to begin the journey home with splashdown off the coast of Florida no earlier than approximately 3:24 p.m. EDT Wednesday, April 20.

NASA coverage of the farewell ceremony will remain as previously scheduled, and the updated NASA Ax-1 return coverage is as follows (all times Eastern):

Tuesday, April 19

  • 7 a.m. – Coverage begins for farewell ceremony
  • 7:45 p.m. – Coverage begins for hatch closure at approximately 8 p.m.
  • 9:45 p.m. – Coverage begins for undocking at about 10 p.m.

Teams will continue to monitor weather at the splashdown sites prior to undocking to ensure conditions are acceptable for a safe recovery of the Dragon spacecraft and Ax-1 astronauts. If needed for any reason, there are additional opportunities for the crew’s departure from the space station on Wednesday, April 20.


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.

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Station Looks to Spacewalk, Crew Departure and Arrival

The SpaceX Dragon Endeavour crew ship that carried four Axiom Mission 1 astronauts to the space station is pictured docked to the Harmony module.
The SpaceX Dragon Endeavour crew ship that carried four Axiom Mission 1 astronauts to the space station is pictured docked to the Harmony module.

The Expedition 67 crew is heading into a busy period next week that begins with a Russian spacewalk, followed by the departure of four private astronauts and the launch of the SpaceX Crew-4 mission. Meanwhile, the residents aboard the International Space Station continued a broad array of research to understand what happens to the human body during a long-term space flight.

Two cosmonauts are getting ready for Monday’s spacewalk set to begin at 10:25 a.m. EDT to activate the European Robotic Arm (ERA) on the outside of the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module. Roscosmos Flight Engineers Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev will go into the weekend reviewing their procedures planned for the six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk. On Monday, the duo will exit the Poisk module, translate to Nauka, and install the ERA control panel and other components on the outside of the orbiting lab’s Russian segment.

The next day, four Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) astronauts will end their space research and education mission aboard the orbiting lab. Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria will lead Pilot Larry Connor and Mission Specialists Eytan Stibbe and Mark Pathy inside Space Dragon Endeavour when they undock from the Harmony module’s space-facing port on Tuesday at 10:35 a.m. The private foursome will splashdown off the coast of Florida on Wednesday morning completing a 12-day mission in space.

The Ax-1 quartet had a packed schedule on Friday conducting a host of microgravity science. Lopez-Alegria and Connor took turns scanning each other’s heart using the Ultrasound 2 device for the Cardioprotection study. Stibbe explored genetic identification and tested the comfort of a specialized radiation protection vest. Pathy continued his Earth photography sessions while also testing a different vest that monitors vital signs in real-time while an astronaut comfortably works on the station.

The four Expedition 67 astronauts from NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) continued their complement of space research and lab maintenance while assisting the Ax-1 crew. Commander Tom Marshburn scanned the eyes of Pathy using medical imaging gear to understand how weightlessness affects an astronaut’s vision. Flight Engineer Raja Chari packed cargo inside the SpaceX Dragon Endurance and inspected the vehicle’s hatch while NASA Flight Engineer Kayla Barron spent Friday cleaning crew quarters and performing orbital plumbing duties. Astronaut Matthias Maurer videotaped an educational event for German students demonstrating the CIMON mobile artificial intelligence companion.

Finally, four SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts are in quarantine counting down to a liftoff aboard the Dragon Freedom crew ship from Florida at 5:26 a.m. EDT on April 23. Commander Kjell Lindgren will lead Pilot Robert Hines and Mission Specialists Jessica Watkins and Samantha Cristoforetti on a ride to the station’s Harmony module where they will dock just over 24 hours later.