The first totally private space mission to the International Space Station (ISS), made up of three businessmen and a former NASA astronaut, departed for return to Earth after a stay of more than two weeks in the orbital laboratory.
A SpaceX capsule undocked from the ISS at 17H01 US East Coast Time (02H10 GMT) on Monday, to start the return trip and splash down off the coast of Florida at around 13H01 premises (17H00 GMT).
Undocking confirmed 🔥
The #CrewDragon Endeavor along with the crew of mission #Ax1 begin their journey from 17 hours back to planet after 17 days in orbit 🌎#Spacex pic.twitter.com/DdLzuY3oJV
— Actual SpaceX (@ActualSpaceX) April 25,
The four men, three businessmen who paid tens of millions of dollars each, and the former Hispanic-American astronaut Michael López-Alegría, were initially to spend only eight days on the ISS , but his departure had to be postponed several times due to bad weather conditions.
The American Larry Connor, owner of a real estate company; Canadian Mark Pathy, head of an investment company; and former Israeli pilot Eytan Stibbe, co-founder of an investment fund, and López Alegría took off on April 8 from Florida and arrived at the ISS the following day.
In the orbital laboratory they carried out a series of experiments, in collaboration with research centers, focused on aging and heart health.
Second private mission AX-2
They were also able to test headphones that record cognitive performance in weightless conditions, according to the Station’s logbook published on a NASA blog.
The Canadian Pathy also spent a lot of time in the famous observation dome of the ISS to photograph the Earth.
The mission was named AX -1. The company Axiom Space acted as a space travel agency: it bought the means of transportation from SpaceX and paid NASA for the use of its station.
NASA has already formally approved the completion of a second mission, AX-2.
After the departure of the AX-1, seven people will remain on board the station: three Americans, one German and three Russians.
Monday will be the fifth landing of a manned Dragon capsule. SpaceX regularly transports NASA astronauts to the ISS.
Elon Musk’s company also carried out a completely private mission last year, but did not reach the ISS. Its four passengers simply remained in the capsule for three days.
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