SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft with Ax-3 Crew Approaches International Space Station

SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft with Ax-3 Crew Approaches International Space Station

The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft carrying the four-member Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) crew is pictured approaching the International Space Station 260 miles above southern India

The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft above the Himalayas

SpaceX Dragon Freedom above China north of the Himalayas

SpaceX Dragon Freedom above a cloudy Indian Ocean east of the coast of Madagascar

The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft carrying the four-member Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) crew is pictured approaching the International Space Station. 

The International Space Station is now home to eleven human beings representing eight countries.

Axiom Mission 3 crew members Michael López-Alegría (Spain-USA), pilot Walter Villadei (Italy), mission specialist Alper Gezeravcı (Türkiye) and European Space Agency project astronaut Marcus Wandt (Sweden) docked to the forward port of the Harmony module of the International Space Station Jan. 20, 2024, following a launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Jan. 18. 

Following docking, the crew opened the hatch of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and floated aboard the International Space Station where they were greeted by members of the Expedition 70 crew. The four private crew members will conduct a mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory on the third private astronaut mission as part of NASA’s effort to open to space to more people and science.

Axiom Space astronauts are expected to depart the space station Feb. 3, 2024, pending fair weather, for a return to Earth and splashdown at a landing site off the coast of Florida.

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Learn more about the Ax-3 Mission here:

https://www.axiomspace.com

Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Image Date: Jan. 20, 2024

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