SpaceX aims Ax-3 crew departure from Space Station by next week (Updated)

Update – February 6, 2024, at 23:47 EST: Axiom (AX-3) mission departure from the Space Station has been delayed to Wednesday, February 7 at 9:05 a.m. ET.

Update – February 5, 2024, at 23:40 EST: Axiom (AX-3) departure from the International Space Station (ISS) has been postponed from February 6 due to unfavorable weather for splashdown. It is also confirmed that the spacecraft and crew are healthy. NASA on the other hand said that the next weather review is planned for 12 p.m. on February 6 to set a new target opportunity for space station departure and splashdown of the Dragon spacraft.

Update – February 3, 2024, at 06:47 EST: NASA and SpaceX further postponed the Ax-3 undocking to February 6 due to unfavorable weather.

SpaceX and NASA have postponed the departure of the Ax-3 mission crew from the International Space Station, which was planned for February 3, 2024.

SpaceX now aims to bring back the Ax-3 crew with the Dragon spacecraft no earlier than Monday, February 5, 2024. The change in departure date was made due to unfavorable weather conditions off the coast of Florida.

Once finalized, the Dragon spacecraft will autonomously undock from the Space Station and perform a series of departure burns to move away from the orbiting lab.

Before deorbit burn, the flight computer jettison’s the trunk to reduce mass and save propellant. Dragon will then begin deorbit burn which lasts 12 minutes. Following this procedure, the spacecraft will re-enter Earth with maximum heat and drag in the atmosphere.

Before landing, Dragon will open two drogue parachutes at 18,000 feet followed by four main parachutes that deployed at 6,500 feet. Lastly, SpaceX will splash down Dragon under four main parachutes at a velocity of 25 feet per second.

The Ax-3 astronauts include Michael López-Alegría and Walter Villadei, Alper Gezeravcı, and Marcus Wandt.

These astronauts launched to the space station on Dragon over Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, January 18 at 4:49 p.m. ET.

(Source)