Ax-2 astronauts undock from station inside Dragon Freedom

Ax-2 astronauts undock from station inside Dragon Freedom

Technology

Dragon is slowly maneuvering away from the orbital laboratory into an orbital track

(Web Desk) - The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft undocked from the space-facing port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module at 11:05 a.m. EDT to complete the second all-private astronaut mission to the orbiting laboratory, Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2).

Dragon is slowly maneuvering away from the orbital laboratory into an orbital track that will return the astronaut crew and its cargo safely to Earth, targeting a splashdown off the coast of Panama City, Florida, targeted about 11:04 p.m. EDT Tuesday, May 30.

Ax-2 Commander Peggy Whitson, John Shoffner, Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi will complete 9 days in space at the conclusion of their mission. The SpaceX Dragon will return to Earth with more than 300 pounds of science and supplies, including NASA experiments and hardware.

Joint operations with the Axiom and SpaceX mission teams end and NASA coverage of the mission concludes when the spacecraft exits the area of the space station, approximately 30 minutes after undocking.

Axiom Space leads independent mission operations for Ax-2 and will resume coverage of Dragon’s re-entry and splashdown.