Today, Commander Peggy Whitson, Pilot John Shoffner, and Mission Specialists Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi finished up all science and media outreach events and started packing the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft for their return home.Whitson worked on the emergency equipment transfer and Dragon cargo packing. Shoffner also focused on cargo packing and finished up recording activities for media engagement and STEAM outreach.
After working in the life sciences glovebox for six days in a row, Barnawi utilized the glovebox one last time for the DNA Nano Therapeutics study, producing the final set of DNA-inspired Janus base nanomaterials on-orbit.
In addition, the Ax-2 crew members participated in a SpaceX briefing about undocking and the weather conditions at the splashdown sites. All conditions including weather are a GO for undocking tomorrow around 11:00 a.m. EDT.
The Ax-2 crew will complete approximately 10 days in space by the conclusion of their mission. During their time on the orbiting laboratory, the Ax-2 astronauts successfully executed over 20 STEAM outreach engagements and more than 20 research studies in microgravity, as well as eight media events. The SpaceX Dragon will return to Earth with more than 300 pounds of cargo and important data that will impact understanding of human physiology on Earth and on-orbit, as well as establish the utility of novel technologies that could be used for future human spaceflight pursuits and benefit humankind on Earth.
Today, Alqarni and Barnawi performed their final STEAM outreach event with the Nanoracks Heat Transfer payload, demonstrating heat transfer in space. During this event, Barnawi and Alqarni monitored the heat transfer of a wire as it heated and cooled. Students then compared how heat transfer on the ISS differs from control experiments performed on Earth.
As the Ax-2 crew prepares to depart from the International Space Station, today the Ax-2 astronauts joined the Expedition 69 crew members for a joint farewell ceremony. During the event, the Ax-2 crew shared words of appreciation and stories about their experience on the space station, and the ISS crew had an opportunity to celebrate the historic Ax-2 mission. You can watch the event on Axiom Space’s YouTube channel.
Tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. EDT, the hatch closure will be livestreamed on Axiom Space’s website, NASA Television, and the agency’s website. Axiom Space, NASA, and SpaceX will resume joint coverage at 10:45 a.m. EDT with undocking. Coverage of the Dragon’s re-entry and splashdown will be available on Axiom Space’s website and SpaceX’s website beginning about an hour ahead of splashdown, which is now targeted at 11:09 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, May 30. You find updates on hatch closure, undocking, and splashdown here.
Mission teams will continue to monitor weather at the possible splashdown sites prior to undocking to ensure conditions are acceptable for a safe recovery of the spacecraft and Ax-2 astronauts.
The four-person multinational crew has made history as the first Axiom Space mission with both private and government sponsored astronauts, opening access to low-Earth orbit to a broader population. Ax-2 is another pivotal step along the journey along the journey toward Axiom Station, the world’s first commercial space station.