Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) Commander Michael López-Alegría, Pilot Walter Villadei, Mission Specialist Alper Gezeravcı, and Mission Specialist Marcus Wandt are homebound!
After approximately 435 hours, 18 days, and 288 orbits around Earth covering around 7.6 million miles, the Ax-3 astronauts’ time aboard the space station came to an end. Yesterday, the crew undocked from the International Space Station at 9:20 a.m. ET to begin their journey home, carrying with them a lifetime of unforgettable memories and invaluable scientific data.
After a 47-hour journey back to Earth, the astronauts are targeted to splashdown off the coast of Florida tomorrow around 8:30 a.m. ET, with coverage beginning at 7:25 a.m. ET. Updates and details on splashdown can be found here.
Ax-3 celebrates many firsts: it was the first commercial spaceflight mission comprised of government and ESA-sponsored national astronauts; Mission Specialist Alper Gezeravcı became the first-ever Turkish astronaut; and Mission Specialist Marcus Wandt was the first ESA project astronaut to fly on a commercial space mission.
Ax-3 is the third in a series of proposed Axiom Space human spaceflight missions, marking a critical milestone toward the realization of Axiom Station — the world’s first commercial space station.