In other SpaceX news, Axiom’s Ax-1 crew returned to Earth on April 25, after spending seventeen days in space, a week more than planned due to weather conditions at the landing zones. As usual, Crew Dragon Endeavour undocked the evening before, on the 24th, and the crew spent several hours preparing the capsule for return. It splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of Florida at 17:06 UTC.

Unlike the previous Dragon 2 parachute deployments, all four parachutes deployed evenly at the same time. The previous odd behavior wasn’t a problem, however, just a known side effect of a multi-chute system. At a post-landing press conference, Axiom director of flight operations and training, Derek Hassmann, said the crew was “in great spirits”. Ax-2, the next private mission to the International Space Station (ISS) is scheduled to fly “next spring”, having been rescheduled from later this year.

The data on Endeavour’s performance will be incorporated into the Flight Readiness Review for the next Crew Dragon mission: SpaceX Crew-4. Crew-4 will be a rapid turnaround for SpaceX’s Mission Control but not for the capsule because it is brand new. Crew Dragon Freedom will be the last new-build Crew Dragon, as SpaceX decided it has enough capsules to meet NASA’s needs for the rest of the ISS’s lifespan. SpaceX will continue to make parts for the Crew Dragons, however, as not everything is able to be refurbished.

Crew-4 will carry three NASA astronauts and one ESA astronaut to the ISS for a six-month mission.

More Information

Axiom Space press release