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Ax-4 makes successful splashdown off California coast

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — The four-member crew of the private commercial Axiom 4 mission returned home to Earth early Tuesday morning as they splashed down off the coast of California after spending more than two weeks on the International Space Station.

What You Need To Know

  • This is the Axiom Space company’s fourth private mission to the International Space Station
  • The Ax-4 crew returned with more than 60 experiments
  • Get more space coverage here  ▶

  • 🔻Scroll down to watch the countdowns🔻
  • 🔻Scroll down to follow the Dragon🔻
  • 🔻Scroll down to watch the splashdown🔻

  • 🔻Scroll down to watch the undocking🔻


Splashdown countdown

Axiom Space stated its fourth private mission to the space station splashed down at 5:31 a.m. ET, Tuesday, off the coast of San Diego.

“And thanks for the great ride and the space trip and we’re happy to be back,” Cmdr. Peggy Whitson said moments after the splashdown to mission control.  

The Axiom 4 crew — Whitson, pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, and mission specialists Tibor Kapu and Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski — took a thrilling ride that was more exciting than any amusement rollercoaster.

SpaceX’s Dragon crew capsule Grace — christened by Whitson moments after the Ax-4 launch in June — went from an orbital speed of about 17,500 mph (28,164 kph) during re-entry when a series of parachute deployments slowed it down to 350 mph (482 kph) and then 16 mph (25 kph) as it gently splashed down.  

Speed boats reached the space capsule as it was floating in the Pacific Ocean. The SpaceX recovery ship Shannon collected Grace.

Once aboard, Whitson gave a big smile as she slid out of the space capsule as she took her first breath of fresh air on Earth since the launch. 

Her other crew members gave similar smiles as they slid out of the charred spacecraft, which was the result of the Dragon entering Earth’s atmosphere at incredible speeds and experiencing 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,927 Celsius).

Once the Ax-4 crew have a quick medical check, they will be flown to shore on a helicopter. And from there, a flight back to Houston, Texas.

Their trip back to Earth was a long one.

Undocking from their vacation home

After spending 18 days on the International Space Station, the Ax-4 crew undocked on Monday morning for a 22-hour, 16-minute commute back down to Earth.

Before leaving, there were some parting words.

“Thank you for your support. You guys are amazing,” Axiom 4 (Ax-4) Cmdr. Peggy Whitson said to the flight control team during the undocking phase of the operation.

“Together for the benefit of all. May our friendship and goodwill forever be an example of the good that results of shared optimism. Axiom 4, Godspeed and safe journey home to the best planet in the solar system,” replied the flight control team.  

The Axiom 4 crew — Whitson, pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, and mission specialists Tibor Kapu and Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski — were inside SpaceX’s newest and last Dragon capsule Grace and undocked from the space station’s Harmony module at 7:15 a.m. ET, Monday.

It was set for 7:05 a.m. ET, but there was a minor delay.

SpaceX described what the trip was like for the foursome.

“After performing a series of departure burns to move away from the space station, Dragon will conduct multiple orbit-lowering maneuvers, jettison the trunk, and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere for splashdown off the coast of California 22.5 hours later …,” SpaceX stated.

Grace is the last Crew Dragon capsule SpaceX plans to build as its business model is to reuse its rockets and spacecraft. The company now has a total of five: Endeavour, Resilience, Endurance, Freedom, and Grace.  

Mission specialist Tibor Kapu, left, pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, Cmdr. Peggy Whitson, and mission specialist Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski are shown before their mission to the International Space Station as they stayed there for more than two weeks, where they conducted more than 60 experiments. (Axiom Space)

About the crew and mission

For the retired NASA astronaut, this was Whitson’s second mission for Axiom Space. She was on the company’s Ax-2 mission two years ago.

A pilot for the Indian Air Force, mission pilot Shukla became the second Indian Space Research Organization astronaut to go into space since 1984.

Uznański-Wiśniewski, a mission specialist, became the second Polish astronaut to go into space since 1978. He is both a scientist and engineer.

And because of the Ax-4 mission, mission specialist Kapu became the second Hungarian astronaut since 1980 to go into space.

For all three men, it was their first time in space while Whitson has a collected total of time in space at nearly 700 days.

And the quartet were busy during those more than two weeks aboard the floating laboratory as they brought more than 60 experiments with them.

Some of these experiments are in partnerships with private companies and space programs that include 31 countries.

These experiments looked at a few things, such as:

  • “How to support astronauts with insulin-dependent diabetes during short-duration missions in microgravity”
  • “Testing methods to extend pharmaceutical shelf-life in space”
  • “Studying upper atmospheric thunderstorms”

On launch day, Axiom Space’s Dr. Lucie Low explained to Spectrum News some of those experiments.

Learn more about Ax-4 mission’s experiments.

Watch the undocking

Watch the splashdown

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Anthony Leone

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