Ax-3 Mission: SpaceX Launches Private Astronauts To The Space Station
Keneci Network @kenecifeed
[Update] Axiom Space Private Astronauts Arrive At The ISS Aboard SpaceX Dragon 'Freedom'
The Axiom mission 3(Ax-3) astronauts Michael Lopez-Alegria, Walter Villadei, Alper Gezeravc, and Marcus Wandt floated into the ISS following Dragon's hatch opening at 1213 UTC Saturday(Jan. 20). After liftoff on Jan. 18 and a nearly 36-hour orbital chase, Freedom caught up with the orbiting laboratory, docking at 1042 UTC at the forward port on the station's Harmony module as the two spacecraft sailed 421.65 kilometers above the South Pacific.
"This is an incredibly exciting time for human spaceflight with the third private mission, which is allowing many more countries to participate in the scientific research and technology development that we do onboard this orbiting laboratory.," said Andreas Morgensen, commander of the station's seven-person Expedition 70 crew who represents the European Space Agency. "We have doubled the number of nationalities onboard the space station going from four to eight, which I think is a great testament to the international collaboration which underpins this marvelous space station."
"I would like to thank for everybody for their great effort for us to be able to make it over here, in the last eight months training period as well as all the counterparts for their contribution for our safe travels," Gezeravcı said. "To make it over to ISS, we are happy as Turkey to [take this] step for the first time in our history."
In the next two weeks, Ax-3 crewmembers will live and work alongside the space station's current residents, performing experiments for a variety of research investigations.
"I want to thank all of you guys again for welcoming us aboard," Lopez-Alegria told the ISS crew. "I know that it's tough to have guests in your house and we promise not to spill any red wine on your white carpet."
Much of the science included on Axiom Space's first two crewed missions(Ax-1 and Ax-2) focused on human spaceflight and habitability in microgravity environments, and this latest mission continues that trend. Ax-3 research includes robotics experiments with high-strength alloys, with implications for in-space construction and assemblies; an experiment from Turkey called Vokalkord, which uses artificial intelligence algorithms to diagnose several dozen diseases by analyzing a cough or someone's speech; and many other investigations into physics, biology and microgravity.
This is SpaceX's third private human spaceflight for the Axiom Space, which has flown nine people to the station since since 2022.
Ax-3 crew and their Dragon are scheduled to depart the orbital lab in 14 days, for Earth. Freedom will splashdown off the coast of Florida.
WATCH the docking and and hatch opening of Freedom, and the welcoming of Ax-3 crew to ISS.
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Carrying 4 passengers, Crew Dragon capsule 'Freedom' lifted up atop a Falcon 9 rocket at 2149 UTC, from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on Jan. 18; on the third private (Ax-3) mission organized by Houston company Axiom Space.
The Ax-3 mission is commanded by former NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria of Axiom Space, with Walter Villadei of the Italian Air Force serving as pilot. Turkey's first astronaut, Alper Gezeravc, and European Space Agency reserve astronaut Marcus Wandt round out the crew as mission specialists.
At about eight minutes after liftoff, Falcon 9's first stage successfully separated and return to Earth, touching down at SpaceX's Landing Zone-1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, next door to KSC.
Freedom separated from the Falcon 9's second stage about 12 minutes after liftoff, beginning the spacecraft's roughly 36-hour orbital journey to rendezvous with the International Space Station.
"Walter, Alper and Marcus: Congrats, and welcome to your first flight on Dragon," SpaceX launch director Mark Soltys said to the Ax-3 crew shortly after Freedom's deployment. "Mike, on the other hand, welcome to the Dragon frequent flyer club. I imagine you'll have enough miles to qualify for platinum status after this flight."
Freedom is scheduled to catch up and dock with the Harmony module on the space station on Jan. 20 at around 1015 UTC. Hatch opening between Freedom and the ISS will occur not long after that, followed by an Ax-3 crew welcome ceremony with the station's current residents.
Together, the four Ax-3 astronauts will spend at least two weeks in space on their ISS mission.
The astronauts will be working as integrated residents of the orbital laboratory, conducting microgravity research and science. Experiments performed by the Ax-3 crew will include investigations into physics, human health and outer space medicine. Some of this research will help Axiom better understand and develop training programs for their astronauts on future flights.
"We are using these first missions as a way to understand how to train astronauts, train crew, and really have the operational expertise that we need as an entire company, but also to kind of fine-tune the things that we want to fly from a low-Earth-orbit economy perspective," David Zuniga, senior director of in-space solutions at Axiom, reportedly said in a May interview.
Axiom has plans to operate its own private space station, which it will begin constructing as a part of the ISS. The company is targeting the launch of its first module in 2026, which will attach to the Harmony module's forward-facing port. Additional components, including a thermal regulation and power module, are scheduled incrementally through the end of the decade, culminating in the Axiom station's departure from the ISS and independent on-orbit operation.
Villadei, Gezeravcı and Wandt had not flown with SpaceX before. López-Alegría now has six spaceflights under his belt, including the Ax-1 mission to the ISS in April 2022. He is the first astronaut ever to fly on Dragon twice. However Ax-3 is the first orbital mission for all three.
WATCH the launch of Ax-3 mission