Launching at 5:37 PM ET, the SpaceX Falcon 9 with Crew Dragon Freedom lifted off from LC-39A at Kennedy House Middle. That is the 2nd mission for Crew Dragon Freedom, beforehand supporting the Crew-4 launch in April 2022.
Liftoff of Ax-2! pic.twitter.com/YS3SDuStNy
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) Could 21, 2023
Axiom-2 consists of 4 astronauts, Commander Peggy Whitson, a retired NASA Astronaut and now Director of Human House Flight for Axiom House, has spent 665 days in area, together with quite a few spacewalks whereas residing aboard the Worldwide House Station. The designated pilot for this mission is John Shofner, an American race automobile driver and pilot, who paid for his seat.
There are two Mission Specialists flying as nicely. First is Rayyanah Barnawi, who holds a bachelor’s diploma in biomedical analysis and is the primary Saudi feminine Astronaut. Flying alongside her is Ali AlQarni, who additionally holds a bachelor’s in aeronautical sciences and is a Captain in Royal Saudi Air Power. The Saudi House Fee paid for each seats.
B1080 flying by hazy circumstances to efficiently ship AX-2 to the ISS (Richard Angle)
It’s estimated that the fee for every seat is roughly $55 million, this contains the journey to area, meals, and utilizing the services aboard the Worldwide House Station.
The 4 crew members will spend 8 days aboard the orbiting outpost conducting quite a few experiments and media outreach. Initially the mission was to be ten days, however because of the scheduling of provide missions to the Worldwide House Station, the mission was shortened to eight days. The crew is predicted to reach on the Worldwide House Station roughly 16 hours after launch from Kennedy House Middle, the place they are going to be greeted by the 7 present astronauts and cosmonauts residing aboard the ISS.
This launch additionally was the primary time a Falcon 9 carried out a Return to Launch Website (RTLS) for a Crewed mission. Because of their quite a few Starlink launches, SpaceX has been in a position to present the Falcon 9 has the capabilities to finish the RTLS safely, which may even assist with a faster turnaround time for the boosters used on Crew and Resupply missions to the ISS.
Falcon 9’s first stage booster has landed on Touchdown Zone 1, a primary for a human spaceflight mission pic.twitter.com/VhjpruRbMC
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) Could 21, 2023
The primary stage that accomplished this flight is a rookie amongst the Falcon 9 fleet, B1080, finishing its first flight. It could have confirmed a number of nerves at first, with a small leak in its perspective management system that’s used through the touchdown sequence of its flight. Nonetheless, the leak proved to not be a difficulty, as B1080 carried out an ideal touchdown at LZ-1 at Cape Canaveral Air Power Station.
Following their keep aboard the ISS, the Crew disembark and make a fiery plunge by the environment with a parachute-assisted touchdown off of the Florida coast.