ORLANDO, Fla. — The International Space Station is turning into a bit of a drive-thru with the goings and coming on three SpaceX Crew Dragons in the next two weeks.
First up is the return of the four Axiom Space crewmates on Crew Dragon Endeavour slated no earlier than April 20 after completion of the company’s historic mission for the first all-civilian trip to the ISS. NASA announced Friday the group’s time on the ISS was being extended by a couple of days, departing Tuesday and targeting a 7:19 a.m. splashdown Wednesday off the coast of Florida. The exact date and time will be dependent on weather at the recovery sites.
The AX-1 flight, which took off from Kennedy Space Center on April 8 brought three men who paid $55 million each to spend more than a week on the ISS performing science experiments, but also enjoying the view. They were led by a former astronaut Michael López-Alegría commanding the flight, but now as an employee of Axiom Space.