NASA defers arrival of Axiom Space astronauts to April 24; SpaceX Crew-4 delayed again

The private astronaut team of Axiom Space will stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for a couple more days as NASA is still waiting for the weather to turn favourable. In a recent mission update, NASA said that the departure of Axiom-1 mission astronauts has been pushed to 6:05 am (IST) on April 24 and the new splashdown timing is 11:16 pm.

“The decision was made based on the best weather for splashdown of the first private astronaut mission to visit the International Space Station and the return trajectory required to bring the crew and the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft back to Earth safely”, NASA wrote in its blog. It further revealed that the teams had already prepared for an additional stay aboard the space station. Currently, there are 11 members in the ISS and there are sufficient services for all of them, the agency assured. 

During the extended stay, the private astronauts are continuing with their planned activities like science experiments they carried with them. Besides, the guest crew, the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule also remains in good health. The Axiom astronauts were originally scheduled to depart the ISS on April 19 but their arrival was postponed due to bad weather at the splashdown site near Florida. 

Axiom-1 or Ax-1 was the first fully commercial spaceflight to the ISS which was organised by Axiom Space in collaboration with NASA and SpaceX. The mission was commanded by former NASA astronaut and Axiom VP Michael López-Alegría, who was accompanied by three paying customers- Larry Connor, Mark Pathy and Eytan Stibbe.

NASA-SpaceX Crew-4 suffers another delay

The postponement of departure from the ISS has delayed another SpaceX mission Crew-4, which is to transport four astronauts to the space station. The launch is scheduled for 1:45 pm (IST) on April 26 with April 27 and April 28 as additional opportunities. This mission also includes four astronauts- three American and one European- who would replace the batch of four that arrived at the ISS in November 2021. The Crew-4 astronauts have arrived on the launch site at Kennedy Space Center after spending two weeks in quarantine before liftoff.