Two Saudis and two Americans, members of a private space mission, returned to Earth early this Wednesday (31), after spending 10 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
The SpaceX capsule that carried them landed in the waters of the state of Florida, in the southeastern United States, ending the Ax-2 mission of the American company Axiom Space.
Rayana Barnawi, a scientist who became the first Saudi woman to travel into space, and Ali al Qarni, a trained fighter pilot, were the first two Saudi nationals to remain aboard the ISS. They were promoted by the Saudi government.
The crew also included American businessman John Shoffner and mission commander Peggy Whitson, a former American Space Agency (NASA) astronaut who was aboard the ISS for the fourth time.
“Welcome Back to Earth!”posted on Twitter by NASA Director Bill Nelson.
“It has been an incredible journey for the Ax-2 crew of private astronauts. They performed crucial science experiments and brought the wonders of space closer to all of us”he added.
The four astronauts took off from Florida on May 21 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket owned by tycoon Elon Musk. During their mission, they orbited Earth 126 times, according to a statement from Axiom Space.
It was the company’s second mission to the space station, following a first in April 2022.
For Axiom Space, these missions are a first step towards a more ambitious goal: building its own space station, the first module of which will be launched at the end of 2025.
The structure will first be docked to the ISS and then undocked to operate independently. NASA plans to decommission the ISS around 2030. Instead, it will send its astronauts to private stations, where other customers will also reside.
Source: DN
