The four members of a special space mission prepare to leave the International Space Station

First Amendment: 04/24/2022 – 22:20Last update: 04/24/2022 – 22:18

The SpaceX capsule is scheduled to separate from the International Space Station at 8:55 p.m. ET (00:55 GMT on Monday), and make its return flight to its return flight off the coast of Florida, scheduled for Monday at approximately 1 : 00 pm local time (17:00 GMT).

The four men, three businessmen who paid tens of millions of dollars each, and former Hispanic-American astronaut Michael Lopez Alegria were initially supposed to spend only eight days on the International Space Station, but their departure was delayed several times due to poor condition. . weather conditions.

American Larry Connor, owner of a real estate company; Canadian Mark Pathy, president of an investment firm; And former Israeli pilot Eitan Stipe, co-founder of an investment fund, and Lopez Allegria took off on April 8 from Florida and arrived at the International Space Station the next day.

On board, they conducted a series of experiments, in collaboration with research centers, focused on aging and heart health.

They were also able to test a headset that tracks cognitive performance in weightless conditions, according to the station’s log posted on the NASA blog.

Canadian Pathé also spent a lot of time in the famous observation dome of the International Space Station photographing the Earth.

The mission was named AX-1. Axiom Space acted as a spaceflight agency: it bought transportation from SpaceX and paid NASA for use of its station.

NASA has already formally agreed to complete a second mission, AX-2.

After leaving the AX-1, seven people will remain on board the station: three Americans, one German and three Russians.

Monday will be the fifth influx of the manned Dragon capsule.

SpaceX regularly transports NASA astronauts to the International Space Station.

Elon Musk also ran another completely special mission last year, but the space station didn’t arrive. Its four passengers simply remained in the capsule for three days.

© 2022 AFP