Freedom capsule undocks from ISS with AX-3 commercial crew
SpaceX’s Freedom capsule today undocked from ISS at 9:20 am (Eastern), carrying three European passengers and one commander, with a planned splashdown in the Atlantic off the coast of Florida at 8:30 am (Eastern) on February 9, 2024.
Ax-3 astronauts Michael López-Alegría, Walter Villadei, Marcus Wandt, and Alper Gezeravci will complete 18 days aboard the orbiting laboratory at the conclusion of their mission. The SpaceX Dragon will return to Earth with more than 550 pounds of science and supplies, including NASA experiments and hardware.
Live stream for that splashdown can be found here. The mission is a private one. Axiom sold the tickets, and purchased from SpaceX the Falcon 9 launch and use of its Freedom capsule. It also rented time on ISS from NASA for its crew and passengers.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
SpaceX’s Freedom capsule today undocked from ISS at 9:20 am (Eastern), carrying three European passengers and one commander, with a planned splashdown in the Atlantic off the coast of Florida at 8:30 am (Eastern) on February 9, 2024.
Ax-3 astronauts Michael López-Alegría, Walter Villadei, Marcus Wandt, and Alper Gezeravci will complete 18 days aboard the orbiting laboratory at the conclusion of their mission. The SpaceX Dragon will return to Earth with more than 550 pounds of science and supplies, including NASA experiments and hardware.
Live stream for that splashdown can be found here. The mission is a private one. Axiom sold the tickets, and purchased from SpaceX the Falcon 9 launch and use of its Freedom capsule. It also rented time on ISS from NASA for its crew and passengers.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Good luck to the passengers and pilot.
In the original news stories about the Axiom-3 crew members, I recall them being referred-to pretty consistently as “astronauts”. In stories of late, including this one, the use of “pilot” and “passengers” has predominated.
According to ChatGPT, the “pilot” (which title is usually the second banana to the Commander in NASA missions) is now a civilian, on his fourth space mission… he’s definitely an astronaut!
The next guy is an Italian Air Force Colonel, on his second space mission… okay, he’s an astronaut., in my book.
The next guy is a Swede, on his first spaceflight, but he is an official ESA Astronaut.
The last guy is a Turkish Air Force Major.
I don’t think any of these last three men qualify as rich tourist “passengers” since they represent their countries in a military or space program context.
As Mike Mullane, a three-time USN/NASA shuttle astronaut and author of “Riding Rockets” said… “Once the explosive bolts (that held down the shuttle) fire, as far as I’m concerned, you’re an astronaut!”
Ray Van Dune: From the perspective of those going in space, your interpretation is entirely correct. I am describing the people on this flight from the perspective of private enterprise. Three are paying passengers, and one is the commander and employee of the company, Axiom.
Ray Van Dune,
I agree with you about the status of these astronauts, especially about the non-tourist status, but maybe for a different reason.
Since the definition of “astronaut” is: “a person who is trained to travel in a spacecraft” (disagreeing with Mike Mullane’s assessment that suggests a real astronaut has flown), and since all these people went through training, I think we can consider them as astronauts. I consider them working astronauts, since they went to the ISS to do work, to perform various experiments, and not just to enjoy the experience, which is what most or all of the civilian astronauts who went up on the Soyuz had done, whom I think of as tourist astronauts, similar to tourists enjoying the luxuries of a cruise ship.
While traveling in Dragon, the non-piloting astronauts can certainly be considered passengers. They are on the way to or from the ISS as though taking a taxi to or from work. Had they worked for NASA, they would have been classified as mission specialists, as they had missions for completion while in space. Once they are working aboard ISS, I consider them working astronauts.
So far, none of the Dragon missions has taken tourists to space. All those who have travelled in Dragon spacecraft have performed work, such as experiments or equipment testing, and I consider them to be at least mission specialists, and some are commanders or pilots. They may have enjoyed the view and the experience, but I have enjoyed the view from several of my offices, and I relish many of the experiences that I have had and the projects I have worked on for my jobs. These pleasures do not make a worker a mere tourist.
The ‘do work in space’ is part of NASA’s requirements for going there.
I am wondering exactly why NASA did not come to an agreement with these allies nations and officially make them part of the crew?
If NASA did it this way just for the cash it would sound a little fishy. I do not think they did though.
In my opinion these 3 guys are just passengers on the Dragon, Just like a person is a passenger on a hired bus going to and from work.
pzatchok asked: “I am wondering exactly why NASA did not come to an agreement with these allies nations and officially make them part of the crew?”
That is a good question. How long does it take for a foreign nation to get one of their people in space through NASA, and how long did it take to do it through Axiom?
I suspect that the advantage is with the commercial companies.
On the other hand, the Axiom mission was a brief stay, about a week. A typical NASA mission lasts about six months, and for NASA to send someone back early requires someone else to remain at the ISS for another six months. NASA does not like the one-year mission. Had they gone through NASA, they most likely would have had to stay for six months, and their nations may not have had that much work for them to do.
This could be yet another advantage for the commercial companies.
Having variable mission stays on the future commercial space stations may be an even better advantage for the commercial companies, especially the space stations that are large enough for multiple simultaneous missions. They may have dockings monthly or weekly, depending upon the eventual demand, but with all these nations starting their own space agencies and seeing these astronauts on this mission, it seems to me that the commercial space stations will be busy places. A nation, company, or university that has some work to do on a space station can arrange for a stay that is however long they think that they will need for that mission. Going through NASA, a foreign astronaut could end up working on several experiments that are not from his nation, company, or university.