The crew of Axiom 3, a commercial space flight safely splashed down off the coast of Florida, today (Feb. 9.) After a series of delays regarding the weather, their mission was extended to 3 weeks onboard the space stations instead of the planned 2 weeks.
The Crew
The Axiom mission was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on January 18th, NASA and SpaceX oversaw the launch activities until lift-off. The mission carried 4 people, the mission commander, Michael López-Alegría is a former NASA astronaut who signed up for the opportunity immediately. Walter Villadei also joined the mission. His former position used to be a colonel in the Italian Air Force. Joining them was Alper Gezeravcı, who became the frist citizen of Türkiye to reach space during this mission. To finish the crew, Axiom chose Marcus Wandt, a European Space Agency reserve astronaut.
All of the crew members were European, marking the frist time in history that an all-European crew reached space.
An Out Of This World Vacation
After a 2 day trip through space, the crew docked with the International Space Station (ISS). They were greeted by the current seven occupants staying onboard the space station. The crew enjoyed being a part of their activities and routines as they learned how to live in space. Even though the ISS averages around the size of a football field, the crew members still had to make arrangements to find temporary bedrooms. It was more difficult than it sounded, the ISS is stuffed full of science experiments. So the crew had to sleep in sleeping bags pinned to the walls. One even slept in a reserved closet. However, it didn’t seem to bother the crew.
"It's been an incredible, busy and fun-filled two weeks up here,"
López-Alegría said during a live stream aboard the ISS
"I am very proud of my Ax-3 crewmates, who helped their agencies achieve all of their science objectives, technology demonstrations, as well as the outreach events."
However, the 2-week vacation was extended. Due to storms and gales in the planned landing area, it wasn’t safe for the crew to land. After being delayed for 6 extra days. It was time for the crew to come home. As they departed the ISS, astronaut Andreas Mogensen said a final farewell.
"It's been a real pleasure and honor to have you onboard the International Space Station," he said "You guys have been great crewmates."