After returning to Earth from a 10-day mission in space, today the astronauts of the Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) participated in a press conference to share their experience and highlight the work conducted during the second all-private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
The Ax-2 crew includes Axiom Space’s Director of Human Spaceflight and Commander Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut, Pilot John Shoffner, and Mission Specialists Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi, from the Saudi Space Commission (SSC). Both are members of the inaugural Saudi national astronaut class.
During their time on the orbiting laboratory, the Ax-2 astronauts successfully executed over 20 STEAM outreach engagements and over 20 different microgravity science experiments, as well as eight media events. The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft returned to Earth with more than 300 pounds of cargo and critical data that will impact understanding of human physiology on- and off-planet, as well as establish the utility of novel technologies that could be used for future human spaceflight pursuits and benefit humankind on Earth.
The Ax-2 crew returned to Earth on May 30, 2023, at 10:04 p.m. CDT, in a parachute-assisted splashdown in SpaceX’s Dragon Freedom spacecraft off the coast of Florida. After returning to shore, the astronauts flew back to Houston where they were greeted by their families and colleagues, many of whom joined them at launch on Sunday, May 21 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
Ax-2 is the second of several proposed Axiom Space missions to the ISS and an important step along the journey toward Axiom Station, the world’s first commercial space station, which will serve as a hub in low-Earth orbit for research and exploration.
Follow Whitson, Shoffner, Alqarni and Barnawi on social media to learn more about the journey or download video and images from Axiom Space’s Ax-2 media kit.
Update: As of June 13th 2023, the Saudi Space Commission (SSC) is now known as the Saudi Space Agency (SSA)