NASA's first private mission to the International Space Station ended successfully after the four-person crew splashed down in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule off the coast of Florida.
The four crew members are Canadian investor and philanthropist Mark Pathy, American entrepreneur Larry Connor, former Israeli Air Force pilot Eytan Stibbe, and former NASA astronaut Michael L.pez-Alegr. The time is 10:00 p.m. On Monday, April 25.
#Ax1: The First All-Private Crew to the @Space_Station pic.twitter.com/Ud4E81YePy
— Axiom Space (@Axiom_Space) April 25, 2022
The private astronauts were helped out of the capsule after being met by a recovery ship. Poor weather at the landing site delayed their return, but they were said to be in good condition after 17 days.
The final few minutes of the return journey are shown in the video below.
The success of this first private astronaut mission to the International Space Station is an important step in opening opportunities for space travelers and achieving NASA's goal of enabling commercial business off the planet.
NASA's first private mission to the International Space Station cost each participant about $55 million and was organized by Texas-based Axiom Space.
The current team of professional astronauts lived with the Ax-1 crew, conducting a range of scientific experiments, as well as outreach and commercial activities. The crew of the Ax-1 answered questions about what it was like to live and work 250 miles above Earth.
This was the first time that NASA was involved in a visit to the space station by a non professional. The first private citizen to stay aboard the International Space Station was an American named Dennis Tito, who paid $20 million to NASA for a ride on its Soyuz spaceship.
A Japanese billionaire businessman and his associate paid for a short stay on the space station at the end of last year.
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