SpaceX Dragon Capsule Returns to Earth Safely, Ends Ax-2 Mission

The four astronauts from the private Ax-2 mission landed safely Tuesday. Their return also marked the end of the mission.

SpaceX Dragon Capsule Returns From Ax-2 Mission

At 11:05 a.m., the Dragon called Freedom separated from the International Space Station (ISS). A 10-day mission encompassing eight days docked at the orbiting lab ended 12 hours later, at 11:04 p.m. EDT (0304 GMT on May 31), after Freedom made its way down to Earth with a faultless splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Panama City, Florida. Its safe return marked the conclusion of SpaceX's Ax-2 mission for Houston-based Axiom Space, according to Space.com.

Peggy Whitson, the Ax-2 commander and a four-space flight veteran from the former NASA, said they had a great flight and appreciated everything. Ax-2 is Axiom Space's second trip to the ISS, following Ax-1 in April 2022. The preceding journey to the orbiting lab was the initial all-private crewed flight.

Whitson, a record-breaking former NASA astronaut and current director of human spaceflight for Axiom Space, piloted Ax-2. John Shoffner, Ali AlQarni, and Rayyanah Barnawi made up the other crew members.

AlQarni and Barnawi are part of the Saudi Space Commission's inaugural astronaut class, and Shoffner was an Axiom Space paying client. In addition, Barnawi became the first Saudi woman to travel to space, making the latter pair the first astronauts from Saudi to visit the ISS.

Before the launch of Ax-2, only one Saudi Arabian had ever traveled to space: Prince Sultan bin Salman Al Saud, a passenger on the STS-51-G mission of the space shuttle Discovery in 1985.

During a farewell ceremony aboard the International Space Station on Monday (May 29), Barnawi remarked that every story ends. Still, it's only the beginning of a new era for their country and region. She was emotional as she thanked those who supported the mission.

ALSO READ: NASA Perseverance Rover Loses Its Martian Pet Rock After Over a Year of Companionship

What Is the Ax-2 Mission?

Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) is the second private space mission to the International Space Station (ISS), which is another crucial step toward the first commercial space station and ISS' successor, Axiom Station.

The four-member Axiom Space crew was launched into orbit in SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft atop its Falcon 9 rocket on May 21. They will work and live in the orbiting laboratory to carry out scientific, educational, and commercial activities.

Axiom Space aims to create a prosperous home in space that will benefit all people, wherever. Axiom Space, the industry's top service provider for human spaceflight and a leading developer of human-rated space infrastructure, currently manages end-to-end missions to the International Space Station while building Axiom Station, the first commercial space station in low-Earth orbit, which will support human expansion away from the planet and bring countless benefits back to Earth.