Four astronauts returned to Earth after a special Axiom mission

the missioncommunicate Axiom 3 mission (Ax-3), was the company's first launch The three paid seats were purchased by national agencies Instead of the wealthy.

How was Axiom Space's mission?

The live broadcast showed howOr a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule called “Freedom” It was parachuted into the Atlantic Ocean, where it was intercepted and taken aboard a rescue ship.

“I am very proud of my Ax-3 crewmates who helped their agencies achieve all of their science goals, technology demonstrations and outreach events.” said Axiom's chief astronaut Michael Lopez Alegríaof Spanish and American nationalities, in addition to a former NASA astronaut at a farewell ceremony before returning to Earth.

StartingThe mission was scheduled to last two weeks.But the return trip It was delayed several days due to bad weather conditionsWhich forced them to stay permanently for 18 days on the International Space Station.

Who was on board the Axiom space mission?

next to Lopez Alegría was traveling with Turkish Air Force pilot and Colonel Albert Gezeravci. Colonel in the Italian Air Force Walter Velade, who actually flew to the edge of space on a Virgin Galactic spaceplane; And the Swedish Markus WandtWhich also represents the European Space Agency.

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The moment you see the umbrella.

X Courtesy of @SpaceX

Countries with space programs Increasingly shifting to the private sector To achieve their space ambitions. Turkey, whose pioneer participated for the first time, celebrated the mission as evidence of its growing importance on the world stage.

The crew conducted 30 experimentsDeepening knowledge about the effect of microgravity on the human body and the progress of industrial processes, among other things.

The beginning of Axiom Space

Axiom Space was founded in 2016 By Michael Suffredini, former director of NASA's International Space Station program, and entrepreneur Cam Gaffarian.

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Costs will be approximately $55 million.

X Courtesy of @SpaceX

In addition to organization Special missions to the orbital stationThe company is developing spacesuits for future NASA missions to the moon. He also builds a Commercial space station Which initially aims to dock with the International Space Station, then separate it and orbit around it independently at a stage before the latter is removed.

He. SheThe exact costs of the Ax-3 have not been disclosed.But in 2018, when the company first announced the program, which involves leasing SpaceX hardware and paying NASA for services, it set a price of $55 million per seat.