Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) Commander Michael López-Alegría, Pilot Walter Villadei, Mission Specialist Alper Gezeravcı, and Mission Specialist Marcus Wandt have been on the International Space Station (ISS) for 17 full days.
Ax-3 is targeted to undock from the ISS no earlier than Wednesday, Feb. 7 at 9:05 a.m. ET pending weather at the splashdown locations. Updates on crew return coverage can be found here.
As the Ax-3 crew waits to depart from the space station, they dedicated time to recording videos for outreach engagements and captured payload imagery. They also gathered more data for their research projects.
Villadei completed the Italian Space Operations Centre (ISOC) technology demonstration. The ISOC system provides an updated space object catalogue with state-of-the-art algorithms to detect space-related events (such as collisions). The ISOC was operated in space for the first time during the Ax-3 mission.
In addition, Villadei prepared Barilla Ready Made Pasta and then completed a final questionnaire to develop a broader range of tasty foods in space for future space explorers.
Wandt took photos in the cupola for the Thor-Davis project, which investigates lightning activity at the top of thunderstorm clouds. He completed another Orbital Architecture assessment with the fNIRS headcap to document his cognitive performance, stress levels, and stress recovery rate. And he also wore the Bone Health Actibelt Beltware throughout the day and downlinked data to study protracted bone loss after short-duration spaceflight.
Villadei recorded an outreach video discussing the importance of space exploration and Italy's role in space. Villadei and Gezeravcı also recorded videos on how to brush your teeth in space.
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