SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 rocket from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 2137 GMT on 21 May, carrying the Crew Dragon – Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2), a private astronaut mission, to the International Space Station (ISS). The Crew Dragon spacecraft separated from the rocket’s upper stage 12 minutes after lift-off and docked with the IDA-3 port on the ISS at 1312 GMT on 22 May. The hatch was opened at 1500 GMT and the entirely private crew of Ax-2 joined the seven-member Expedition 69.
NASA and Axiom hope the AX-2 mission will spur on more missions in LEO with private sector participation. Courtesy: Axiom
Axiom’s Crew Dragon spacecraft carried the Ax-2 crew of four astronauts: Commander Peggy Whitson, Pilot John Shoffner, and Mission Specialists Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi. Aside from being only the second ever all-private astronaut mission to the ISS, Ax-2 also sees Alqami, a pilot, and Barnawi, a biomedical researcher, become the first Saudi astronauts to visit the ISS. Barnawi is also the first Saudi woman in space and the first Arab woman aboard the ISS.
The Ax-2 crew – Commander Peggy Whitson, Pilot John Shoffner, and Mission Specialists Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi – were welcomed by the Expedition 69 crew members already aboard the ISS when they arrived. Courtesy: Axiom
The crew was originally meant to stay at the ISS for 10 days, but this was shortened by two days after a launch delay following the postponement of a Falcon Heavy launch. During their stay at the ISS the Ax-2 astronauts will carry out more than 20 scientific experiments covering cancer prediction, in-space bioengineering, and microgravity’s effects on stem cell production and human physiology.
Crew Dragon – Axion 2 check their flight track before re-entry. Courtesy: Axiom Space
Update on 31 May 2023: The Crew Dragon – Axiom Mission 2 undocked from ISS space-facing (Zenith) port of the station’s Harmony module at 1505 GMT on 30 May 2023 with its crew aboard. After jettisoning its trunk and making a 12-minute 20-second de-orbit burn, the space capsule re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere to make a parachute slowed splashdown at 0304 GMT on 31 May 2023 in the Gulf of Mexico off Panama City, Florida from where they were recovered.
The Crew Dragon – Axiom 2 mission is met by its recovery ship. Courtesy: SpaceX
