Private Ax-4 astronauts depart ISS after unexpected extended stay (video)

The four astronauts of Axiom Space's latest private mission have concluded their stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Ax-4's SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, named Grace, undocked from the ISS this morning (July 14), carrying the quartet on the last leg of the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) mission.

Undocking occurred at 7:15 a.m. EDT (1115 GMT) today. Grace safely maneuvered away from the orbital laboratory, which was the Ax-4's crew's home for the past 2.5 weeks — about half a week longer than originally expected. Grace performed a series of deorbit burns, and is on a trajectory to return to Earth around 5:30 a.m. EDT (0930 GMT), Tuesday (July 15).

Ax-4's commander is former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who is now Axiom's director of human spaceflight. "Space Station, Grace," Whitson said over the communication system as the Crew Dragon crossed out of the ISS's safety "keep-out sphere," "The Ax-4 crew wants to thank you very much for your support. You guys are amazing."

Her crewmates are pilot Shubhanshu "Shux" Shukla and mission specialists Sławosz "Suave" Uznański-Wiśniewski and Tibor Kapu. This was the first spaceflight for each of those three. But Ax-4 is Whitson's fifth mission to orbit and raises her current record for most cumulative days in space by an American to 695.

Grace docked to the ISS with the Ax-4 crew aboard on June 26. Their mission, Axiom's fourth to the space station, is an extension of the Houston-based company's previous crewed flights, with research and science investigations aimed at furthering understandings of the microgravity environment.

The Ax-4 crew took on more than 60 experiments and technology demonstrations with contributions from 31 different nations, as well as a number of public outreach events, breaking a record for Axiom as it continues to hone its orbital operations.

Not only was this the first spaceflight for Shux, Suave and Kapu, but they were the first citizens of their respective countries to launch on a mission to the ISS. Shux is a pilot in the Indian Air Force and is one of four astronauts selected for the Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO) upcoming first human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan. Suave is a Polish astronaut from the European Space Agency, and Tibor Kapu is a member of HUNOR, Hungary's orbital astronaut program.

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The Ax-4 mission launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on June 26 from storied Launch Complex-39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, in Florida. The crew spent a little more than a full day catching up to the ISS, and were scheduled to remain aboard the space station for about two weeks. Their mission lasted about four days longer than expected.

Departure procedures began this morning around 4:30 a.m. EDT (0830 GMT), with the Ax-4 crew entering Grace and closing the hatch at 5:07 a.m. EDT (0907 GMT). Now, crew and Dragon are on a 22.5-hour trajectory on course to splash down in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California, early Tuesday.

This will only be SpaceX's second West Coast crew recovery. The first was that of the Crew-9 ISS mission in March. SpaceX has shifted permanently to Pacific Ocean rather than Atlantic or Gulf recoveries, after instances of debris from Dragon's trunk surviving atmospheric reentry and crashing back to Earth.

The new reentry path minimizes the chances that such debris could cause damage or injury, SpaceX representatives have said.