LIVE COVERAGE: SpaceX Dragon crew returns to Earth

and now we are in the final phase of our journey for the next hour we will follow the return of Peggy Whitson John Schoffner Ali Al Carney Rayana Barnawi as they splash down on the coast of Florida and conclude the ax2 mission now we look forward to bringing you

live

views from our

crew

soon , but we don't have those views yet due to ground station

coverage

, but since departing the International Space Station at 805 a.m. Pacific Time, the

crew

had a brief off-duty period where they were able to spend some time before preparing the cabin for the final part of their trip home and also donning or donning their spacesuits and completing with successful leak checks of the leak suit for the past 11 hours, Dragon has been moving the vehicle into position for re-entry with a descending phase burn a brief firing of Dragons Draco Draco Thrusters to reduce the spacecraft's altitude before of returning to Earth, that's what you see there with that animation on your screen.

The next step will be to get rid of the trunk, which is this cylindrical and pressurized part. Once the trunk separates, we will use the forward bulkhead thrusters to perform the G orbit combustion, of course, from then on the combustion of entrance and then we will see the drug parachutes followed by the main parachutes deploying and finally with Splashdown, now this animation shows us landing in the Atlantic Ocean, but we are actually going to re-enter and land on the Gulf side. We're targeting a splashdown location in Panama City, so just a quick note on that location and when SpaceX will splash down.

Knows exactly where Dragon is expected to land with recovery teams prepositioned in the area, these teams are trained to quickly reach the Dragon spacecraft, secure it and then hoist it aboard the main recovery ship from there. The crews will open the hatch and help Peggy John. Ali and Rihanna leave Dragon Freedom and it will be a super exciting moment that will be the first breath of fresh air they have had in 10 days. I'm sure it will smell different than the station the Ax2 mission has been on. Remarkable from start to finish in many ways, truly this mission is the culmination of years of hard work between government and private entities to expand opportunities for country institutions, industries, and people around the world to engage in meaningful activities. of scientific research, manufacturing and steam-related space and this crew has certainly been kept busy with many of these types of endeavors while on station, yeah, well, let's take a moment to properly introduce our crew.

The ax2 mission is commanded by retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, born and raised in Beaconsfield, Iowa, from which she was inspired. With the world when she saw the Apollo 11 crew walk on the moon, she has since become the most experienced and one of the most decorated American astronauts before this mission. Whitson flew three long-duration missions to the ISS and logged more time and space than anyone else. She is an American astronaut and longer than any woman in the world, 665 days, a record that she has just extended on this mission to 674 days. Not only does she now serve as commander of this Mission, but Peggy also serves as Director of Human Spaceflight for Axiom.

Space The pilot of ax2 is a private astronaut John Schoffner Born in Alaska and raised in Kentucky Shafner has become the first Alaska Native to go to space He is an advocate for steam education Business pioneer and long-time space enthusiast Pilot life since age 17 John has over 8,500 flight hours with commercial single-engine and multi-engine instrument ratings in land and sea aircraft, as well as in helicopter as an athlete. John has years of competitive experience in water skiing, cycling, whitewater kayaking, gliding, skydiving, and base jumping throughout this mission. He invested much of his time in Steam educational activities aimed at empowering educators and inspiring teachers who represent the Saudi space commission and serve as mission specialists.

Ali al-karni was born in March 1992 and Sabbat al-alaya Saudi Arabia Ali speaks fluent English as In addition to his native Arabic as an Air Force Captain, Ali has 12 years of experience flying in multiple aircraft primarily in the fifteen sa al service of the Royal Saudi Air Force. Ali graduated with a bachelor's degree in aerospace science in 2013 from King Faisal Air Academy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. During this mission, Ali conducted a large number of events and research, including EEG biodata measurement and stellar stem cell operations. of Kermit, who also represents the Saudi space commission and now the first Saudi woman to go to space.

Rihanna Barney was born in September 1988 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Rihanna has a master's degree in Biomedical Sciences from Alphaisal University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and a bachelor's degree in Biomedical Sciences from Otagi University in Dunedin, New Zealand. She speaks fluent English and Turkish, in addition to her native Arabic. She has been a research laboratory technician since 2013 in the stem cell and tissue reengineering program at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and research center located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and this week she spent a lot of her time working in the glove box of Life Sciences conducting cellular research in microgravity and there you have it, the ax2 team, this is truly a wonderful and incredible group and we can't wait to reconnect with them and hear their stories firsthand once they return to Houston , well, as we mentioned before, we hope to do so.

I bring you

live

views of the Dragon capsule momentarily. I want to point out that a few minutes ago the SpaceX teams deorbited and burned, so that's basically the next big step that we have right now at this point. Dragon is doing a couple of things autonomously, meaning it's doing everything itself, it's isolating the fluid from the thermal control system. Loops from the radiator, this system is what will help keep Dragon's internal temperature warm for the crew during re-entry. and after that we will see the uh, the separated claw, that claw connects the trunk to the capsule and delivers energy Telemetry and fluids and that separation of the claw is the first step in that separation from Trump, of course, we have to separate that trunk or throw it away. really to expose the heat shield that's on the bottom of the capsule and once the orbit sequence begins, thank you, okay, so that call tells us that that deorbit burn that's going to last about 13 minutes is done.

Underway, we're now using the four Draco thrusters on the forward bulkhead, which means they're basically on top of the capsule, right near where the nose cone is and also near where the dock is, excuse me. , is the front hatch. which is what is used to dock with the International Space Station, so those four Draco thrusters activate and will last approximately 13 minutes. Once that's complete, we'll close the nose cone and once the nose cone is closed, we're basically ready for the

dragon

. will be physically configured for re-entry, now we expect that today we will have a loss of signal or Los and that is basically a lot of friction that builds up on the outside of the capsule as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere and basically results in a buildup of super hot plasma now we'll be flowing cooled nitrox or nitrogen oxygen waste from the abdominal trunk yeah so you're on your screen Mission Control SpaceX and in the left corner is our crew resources and operations engineer and I mentioned before that we We, um, burned our Dearborn going.

I get advanced. We just heard the call for that claw separation, which means the trunk will be next to the d orbit. Excuse me, you will be the next one to be discarded and then we will take a step. in that crazy burn on your screen there, SpaceX core Michael Blasko, they're in the left corner, the SpaceX, oh, and there we have our first views of the Axiom 2 crew, we can see that their visors are up, that That's great, we have Commander Peggy Whitson. in the foreground now on the left of the screen and John Schoffner, the pilot, on the right, so I love this view where we can be on the left side in the upper right corner of that left corner, okay, we have that corner left. shows um we can actually see a graph that will illustrate what Draco Thruster actually sees a graph that will illustrate which Draco thrusters have fired, they will illuminate with a flash of light which is a great view of the four crew members, they all look pretty calm down, yes.

Well, they have trained for this, they have spent a lot of time preparing for all these moments and I think now you can see that they are prepared. We have a good view of our mission. Specialists on the left, Rihanna barnali and at the end. on the right Ali al-karni with again a pilot John chapter in the center left Commander Peggy Whitson in the center right seat so once again, if you just joined us, the crew, as you can see in Dragon Freedom, are of way home. We just separated the trunk, so the heat shield is now exposed.

The heat shield is, you know, an important element of our reentry method and then as we go up, we'll burn up the d orbit. This burn will last about 13 minutes and then we'll do it. we have atmospheric entry and as I mentioned we will have a brief loss of signal or stall and then once we get to that time we should hopefully be able to see Dragon, this is a night landing so we are aiming for an offshore landing of Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, near Panama City, so I love night landings because even people who are on land, not necessarily near Panama City, but also from more distant areas can see

dragon

s crossing the sky like this beautiful one. comet you mentioned that plasma that affects communications and causes Los and some of us have seen videos of that from inside the capsule that very bright plasma burning on the outside is really fascinating, as I mentioned before, basically there is a buildup. of friction that occurs around the outside of the capsule as we re-enter Earth's atmosphere because we are going so fast that the atmosphere is actually helping us by helping to significantly slow down the capsule before the parachute deploys, but yeah, It turns out there is a buildup of plasma on the outside of the capsule and the crew stays nice and cool inside.

We flow nitrox, which is a mixture of nitrogen and oxygen, the same thing used in scuba tanks. We flow him into the cockpit and straight into his suits to help. keep everyone comfortable, temperatures on the outside of the dragon can exceed 3500 degrees Fahrenheit, so the capsule works hard to keep the crew safe and ultimately that friction really helps us slow the vehicle down, The crew is now awaiting deorbit. burning as I mentioned this will last about 13 minutes and we will be using dragons 4 front Draco thrusters which are located near the nose cone so once that is complete we can close the nose cone and the Dior burning is now in progress as I mentioned before.

This burn is expected to last about 13 minutes. Quick summary. In the last 10 minutes, Dragon Jetta sent its trunk and started that door, but it burned down just a minute or two ago. On The View, where we have, where are we looking? between the shoulders of pilot John Schoffner and commander Peggy Whitson we can see those Draco thrusters firing on their screens. I love being able to see that, I'm sure it gives them another layer of confidence. It's probably cool even though it's an autonomously operating vehicle um, oh, there we go, that's another take, you guys have that visual reference, the crew appreciates it too and then the central screen that shows where they are on their trajectory back home, as well as orbit, it is the last time those four forward Draco thrusters will be firing.

The dragon has not yet entered Earth's atmosphere. He is dewormed. Fern is basically what aligns the vehicle and places it on its final trajectory to the landing site, which as I mentioned before is off the coast of Florida, near Panama. City and as we can see, the crew uses their displays to control the duration of the burn, the Draco fire, the Draco thruster firings, um and then, as I mentioned before, the details of the trajectory, such as the angle of entry, the capsule, they parody how much distance there is until we ever burn the end, like me. mentioned before, the dragon is autonomous, meaning it flies on its own, so now all the crew has to do is stay buckled in their seats and beaware of the strange things, once the time comes for our crew to return to planet Earth, they will head to one.

Of our seven SpaceX-backed target sites, all of these sites are located off the coast of Florida in either the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean. Spreading supported sites across multiple locations helps maximize return opportunities for this Mission as well as in the future. Crews reduce the chance that we will have to say goodbye due to bad weather, as Dragon is capable of SplashTown on both sides of the Florida Panhandle, we have two identical, fully equipped recovery vessels that are ready to support one in the Gulf of Mexico which is Megan and the other in the Atlantic Ocean which is Shannon, in the lead up to today's SpaceX primary and alternative landing locations off the coast of Florida.

This selection process takes into account many different variables, including which landing sites are available and which ones. We have favorable weather today. Our primary landing site brings the crew home off the coast of Panama City, Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico. For the return, we will analyze a series of meteorological elements, some of the most obvious being that there will be no rain or possibility of lightning. recovery zone for both the safety of the crew inside the capsule and the recovery teams in the water, but we are also looking for wind speeds less than 15 feet per second or about 10 miles per hour and relatively calm seas so that we can safely execute recovery operations which include landing a helicopter on the recovery ship to bring our crew back to land, yes as you can see there are a number of variables and criteria that come into play and ultimately all They help ensure safety for both the crew on board and the recovery teams, but in terms of the weather conditions we have tonight, it looks incredible, for these operations, SpaceX is coordinating closely with the United States Coast Guard to establish a safety zone and that is to ensure the public safety of those involved in the recovery operations, as I mentioned, of course, the crew aboard the returning spacecraft.

Notices are issued to Mariners in advance of and during recovery operations and Coast Guard patrol boats are deployed to discourage voters from properly entering the landing zones and we really want to emphasize to the public the need to respect this safety zone when recovering a spaceship from the water. It is a very dangerous operation and any other ship that interferes in the area not only increases the risk for the astronauts in the capsule and the teams working to recover them from the water, but also for themselves, so for the safety of the crew. and yours. safety, we recommend that you sit back and watch as we will give you the best possible views of our astronauts' homecoming.

Yeah, the only thing I'll add to that is if you live in Florida, or along the Gulf Coast, you should be able to see the Dragon capsule taking to the night sky now, as you can imagine, our crew Peggy Whitson John Shofner Ali Al-Karni and Rayana Barnawi have undergone extensive training for their mission, including this. Final Reentry Phase Each crew member has between 700 and 1,000 hours logged since mid-2021 at that point dedicated to learning SpaceX protocols on the International Space Station systems and preparing for their respective research portfolios as we continue to wait. . word on orbit burning, let's share some, some of the scope of these efforts with you, now privately, not privately.

Astronaut training is quite rigorous to prepare for the X2 crew mission. Our team at SpaceX, your teams at SpaceX had to spend the last few months teaching the crew about orbital mechanics, right, it's absolutely true, they also learned how to live in microgravity and how to run full mission simulations from inside our training capsules. dragons The training program includes almost 100 different lessons covering all aspects of flying and the list. continue guys, you did a great job with our team here, in fact, you had a lot of other people visit the X2 team, spend time in simulators like this, this, sorry, this is a centrifuge and it's experiencing higher g forces.

And complementary to this, the crew also participated in a zero-gravity parabolic flight that simulated the lack of g forces, but in addition to simulating the gravitational forces that they will experience, they also underwent altitude training in a hyperbaric chamber so that This can simulate a high altitude. and hypoxia so they can identify not only their own symptoms but those of their crewmates if they need to recognize them. They also spent time at the Johnson Space Center in the mockup facility training for this Mission to spend eight days living aboard. on the ISS, they spent time learning from mission controllers, experts in ISS safety and emergency procedures, as well as the essentials of living aboard the orbiting laboratory, things like how to heat food, where to find equipment that you need, the goal is to be able to confidently complete each task on your schedule, but also be contributing members of the space station as a whole with the other astronauts as they carry out their tasks.

So to that end, they also went to Cologne, Germany and diving in Japan, training with Issa and jaxa to qualify. In the European space agencies' Columbus module, as you will see here, EC instructors shared many of the operations systems and procedures, as well as some of the daily tasks and emergency protocols safely separately to qualify for the Columbus module. Japanese exploration. The crew traveled diving in Japan. learn from Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency instructors, as you can imagine, international collaboration is a constant throughout this mission, so it's one thing to learn the systems of the ISS, but it's equally important to understand how to live and working as a team in a shared space, so this team spent five days training on the Human Exploration Research Analog or Hera at the Johnson Space Center.

This is a confined experience that is designed to isolate the crew to build cohesion and teamwork. This experience included an opportunity to simulate work and investigative procedures rehearse outreach efforts and even respond to simulated emergencies, all while living in confined spaces and unable to leave the facility. It's pretty exciting stuff and of course it all leads up to what you're experiencing now as you're going through what we call the In the re-entry phase of the mission right now there's a live view inside our Dragon capsule of the crew of ax2. They've spent time rehearsing what's going on here, and as we mentioned before, they're mostly just monitoring and controlling progress. but one thing they trained extensively on is the capsule exit process.

You know they're coming back from 10 days in space. Your body may feel a little different and in short to help ensure that no one gets hurt and injured when they are. When exiting or exiting the capsule, they've practiced it here at Hawthorne with the teams just to make sure they know what order they're going to enter in and who to lean on for help as they go through the side hatch once again. right, because everything is perfectly orchestrated, as we talk about the team preparing for the rescue, each team is within three miles of these potential Splashdown zones, they know what they are doing and they have spent time practicing this absolutely brilliant thing. photo of our team still, that's Commander Peggy Whitson at the bottom of the screen John Schoffner, the pilot a little further back and out of sight are mission specialists Ali Alcarney hiding below us on the left and Rihanna Varnawi uh far at the top of the screen there now, the deorbit burn should conclude in about 30 seconds and we can see, exactly as the crew sees on their screens, that central screen that shows them the details of its trajectory, as well as what step of the burn is that or what step of the mission we're on, so it actually sounds like it says its deorbit, which makes sense, that's where we are now.

After deorbitation is complete we will close the nose cone which will be the final physical change of the Dragon capsule before re-entry, of course the nose cone is, as the name suggests, on top while it was in space, it's been open to help expose the forward bulkhead Draco thrusters as well as the orbit, full performance, nominal nose cone closure, started with dragons, coffee, that's cool. news, while I was talking about it, the nose cone will now close at the bottom. Dragon uh will also inhibit those forward bulkhead Draco thrusters that we just used to complete the deorbit burn that ensures it's safe to close the nose code. for reentry uh also the vehicle has initiated the nitrox suit purge this will help keep the crew cool and comfortable during reentry which looks like it's coming up in about 25 minutes at this point as we just heard that the nose cone is closing and protecting. that forward hatch throughout the entire time, we will be guarding the forward hatch during the re-entry phase and the crew will use their displays to monitor the progress and in fact, that is a live view of the nose cone closing, um, this is a of the cameras. near that forward hatch and that's the nose cone that closes on top.

I love that shot, it's so cool, so once again, this is where the forward hatch is located, which is what is used to dock with the International Space Station, as well as those. forward bulkhead thrusters, there are four of them and we use them for the Jewish orbit burn, which for those of you who are just joining us, we just completed that orbit burn, um, that's basically what puts the dragon in the final trajectory home, so "Now we are engaged, we are locked in at the splashdown location in Panama City, our recovery ship Megan is waiting to pick up the Dragon and lift it to its deck, but right now the crew, we will be experiencing a loss of signal with the crew um that will only last a few minutes um and that's not for another 20 minutes or so, but we expect that to happen because as Dragon re-enters Earth's atmosphere, it will.

It generates a lot of friction up on the outside and that results in a buildup of plasma that is super hot. External temperatures can reach around 3500 degrees Fahrenheit, so it's pretty hot, but the crew stays super comfortable. We're washing the cockpit with that fresh nitrox. air and we're also making it flow through their suits so they stay comfortable. I think the only downside to the re-entry phases is because of that plasma buildup you can't really look out of, yeah, and maybe the next Return to Gravity will probably be a little bittersweet unless you've been in orbit, yeah Yes, I can only imagine, so the first views we will have of the dragon will be from our thermal cameras tracking the dragon, as I mentioned.

Before, if you've tuned in and lived along the Gulf Coast, you should get out because you'll probably be able to see Dragon streaking across the night sky. We are now waiting to confirm that the nose cone is closed. It looks like we're tracking that's going to happen here in the next few seconds, so closing the hooks will basically crash. There are two sets of hooks that will lock the nose cone in place. The same hooks that have to be opened to open the nose cone like crazy. To think that it was only 10 days ago that we were talking about the opening of the nose cone, uh, when the ax2 team was released, so now we are waiting for a confirmation of the closing of the nose cone.

The foreign hook sets are confirmed to be closed so the nose cone is locked in place as we begin the second half of Entry Dragon is now beginning to inject nitrox into the cockpit and continues to complete the Ax2 cruiser suits with that air cool again, that is what will allow the cabin temperature to remain comfortable. while external temperatures reach 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit, now the heat shield, which is the structure that was exposed when we jettisoned the trunk of the Dragon capsule, that heat shield points forward, sorry, which basically brings the capsule into place landing, that heat shield.

It is composed of Pica 3.0, which means phenolic impregnated carbon ablator. First generation Pico was developed byfirst time by NASA to study and sample comets within our solar system. SpaceX partnered with NASA to develop Pika X, which was the second generation product used in all Dragon ones. cargo resupply missions that successfully resupply the space station in 20 missions and then Pica 3.0 was developed specifically for use on Dragon 2 cargo and crew missions with improved structural and thermal properties that optimize the heat shield and reduce costs and The mass so that the rest of the Dragon crew capsule is primarily composed of SpaceX's proprietary ablative material is another class of thermal protection that is lighter than the Pica and also protects the underlying composite structure during reentry to ensure that structural capabilities are maintained, so that's the white thing on the side. of the Dragon capsule now, while the Dragon crew will experience temperatures well above 3,000 degrees, I said before they reach around 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit during peak re-entry conditions, the features of the TPS, which stands for thermal protection system along with environmental control and life. support system in the pressurized interior, all of which will ensure that the Ax2 crew remains cool and comfortable during all phases of reentry through Splashdown and will also help ensure that we can reuse this capsule on future missions.

Yes I love it. watch the ax2 launch webcast. You know that one of Axiom Space's goals is to find new ways to promote and encourage the creation of space-themed art during the course of this mission. Axiom Space 3 has been launching digital artist collections on our website. The Axiom Space 3 platform is a tokenized closed community network that allows members to collect premium space-inspired collectibles and interact with astronauts, space tech professionals, and web3 entrepreneurs building at the intersection of deep tech industries for this mission. Axiom's art and space block engine announced a groundbreaking partnership. that will see the release of an nft infused collectible nose cone in the slot secured for entry, nice, uh, in the loops, Dragon Coffee, which is a nice update that knows the pitch is locked and loaded, locked and loaded , and back to the nft collection, this is a piece called Imagine by Nadia Bremer Nadia Bremer is an art block artist, astronomer, and data visualization designer.

This new collection of art block engines features an algorithmically generated 222-piece collection showing imaginary maps of the stars with unique constellations to make this collection even more unique than digital art. been launched from the ISS by ax2 Commander Peggy Whitson during this mission, you can get one of these beautiful digital star maps starting May 31 at 1 p.m. Eastern time. Additionally, ax2's digital art collection featured works by an American artist from Los Angeles. California, thank you they closed in Splashdown. These collaborations with digital artists and brands bring a new level of creativity and inclusivity to the commercial space industry.

For more information on this and all of our digital collectible activities, visit nft.axiomspace.com At Axiom space, we are working hard to build the next destination in low Earth orbit. Axiom space is designed as a true continuation and evolution of the International Space Station with so much knowledge gained over the last 20 years. Axiom space's goal is to build on the successes and lessons learned during that time while expanding access to low Earth orbit for more country institutions. Industries and individuals like never before with the Axiom station currently under construction here we have an update for you on the growth and development of what we intend and how we are going to be the first commercial space station.

We are building the world's first commercial space station. one element at a time we think that what we are doing is for everyone everywhere this is a global effort our partner the tallest lady in Italy is in the final stages of building the first module the first pressure vessel we are here at the integration and manufacturing area of ​​uh yes, we have the two disadvantages that will be part of the module and also the door to the modular to enter and exit, the very large cylinder that will be the core of the module just to get an idea of ​​You can see the dimension of the actual module compared to the structure of this report.

All additional modules will be attached. This is the most complex piece of the entire Axiom module. We are at Pace to build a human-rated spacecraft faster than anyone else. We have built one before. When we look at our roadmap, we're looking to see how we can double its capacity every five years. It requires a lot of different talents and a lot of different engineering backgrounds, so we've really expanded the team that I'm working on at the moment. Sensible aspect of the space station network, so that's the network, it has all the flight computers synchronized and it actually activates the booster at the perfect time, so this is the command trailer.

We can control our dyno, allowing us to vary our set pressures. or flow rates in the propellant to collect performance data at various chamber pressure conditions. It's always fun to come here, set everything up and start lighting rockets. We have the carbon dioxide removal subset that we are going to create. the most integrated ecosystem that has ever been put into the space so far, which is really cool to be able to say that I make PC boards, cables and harnesses because this is a life-critical job and you want to make sure you do the best. possible work within 15 to 20 years we will be surrounded by objects, so we cannot imagine how we live without it, we are manufactured in space.

I think there's also another promise and that's why I'm very excited about the In Crew that the more people we can have who see the world as the whole world, the better that we all be foreigners. SpaceX core Michael Blasko gave a quick briefing to the Ax2 crew to let them know the final time estimates on their re-entry so that let's have an updated estimated time for that signal loss. This will last approximately seven. minutes and we expect that to happen um gmt-02 51 and end at o258 so again in the last seven minutes we heard that the weather conditions are great so that's great once again it looks like this is going to be super visible across the Gulf From Mexico, once again we are aiming for a landing around Panama City, so come out and see how amazing it will look while we wait for more updates.

Here's a fun list the teams put together about the mission. 15 things you should know. Some things we want to know about this mission the crew conducted more than 20 microgravity research projects some of the research conducted on the mission included studying immune dysfunction in tumor organoid models that can help predict and prevent cancer investigating how Commercial spaceflight crew members adapt to microgravity and explore how weather modification works in low-gravity conditions The crew conducted steam events with students from around the world, more specifically they carried out a series of science demonstrations with students on Earth through amateur radio events a student art competition from space and participation in student-led activities projects with universities such as MIT and the ISS orbited the Earth 126 times and traveled 3.33 million miles.

Ax2 was the first commercial mission with private and government-sponsored astronauts. Peggy Whitson is now the first female commander of a private space mission. to her achievement as the first female commander of the ISS and extending her record for the longest cumulative time in space By an American astronaut to 674 days across her four flights Ali al-karni and Rihanna Barnawi are the first Saudi astronauts to visit the ISS and Rihanna Barnawi is the first Saudi woman to go to space John Schaffner became the first person from the state of Alaska and the first citizen of Fairbanks to fly in space Axiom space's Mission Control Center in Houston became the first In the twelfth partner of the ground segment of the International Space Station time induced pluripotent stem cells were manufactured in space by astronauts by studying stem cells in space we can address the challenges that currently limit us as we study these cells in regenerative medicine throughout low Earth orbit and here on Earth.

I have a nice live view of our crew in the capsule and you see our mission specialist Rihanna Barney on the left followed by pilot John Schoffner, commander Peggy Whitson and on the far right mission specialist Ali al-karni in that far left Rihanna Barnawi performed seven consecutive days of life sciences glove box operations during her eight-day documentary mission, so first it was a lot of fun and the incredible work done by this crew during their mission. Here's another fun thing: our zero-gravity indicator named Gigi continued the tradition of having the microgravity indicator inside the spacecraft to provide a visual reference. for when the crew has reached weightlessness as the fifth member of the ax2 crew Gigi's mission is to inspire children around the world to learn about space Gigi is a Build-A-Bear teddy bear who wears the suit Axiom's Ax Emu space suit, just like the ones NASA astronauts will use. wear on future missions to the Moon ax2 is a precursor to the Axiom station these missions are an important step in the journey of building the world's first commercial space station two space-powered technologies Axiom demonstrates on the space station that are pioneering for the next generation of video Communication in space and downlinking of images that return with them on SpaceX Dragon Freedom is actually more than 300 pounds of cargo and important data that will impact our understanding of human physiology on Earth and in Orbit from now on we can see that the Ax2 crew are in their suits in their seats and continue to follow the progress on their tablets and on the screen above their heads.

We have an anticipated signal loss that will occur in about 12 minutes a bit. little almost 13 minutes or excuse me, that Los will happen in six minutes and we expect it to last seven minutes total, and we have an anticipated splashdown time of 804 p.m. Pacific 1104 p.m. Eastern Time, so next up will be the communications blackout period. This happens on every crew mission that we have when they re-enter the Earth's atmosphere, the outside of the capsule works very hard to basically encounter a lot of friction as they re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and that actually helps the capsule slow down. significantly before we deploy the parachutes, now the suits that you see them wearing now, are completely customized and fitted for each crew member, we can see that their visors are now lowered in the locked positions, copy that Dragon, we see your visors are down the restrictions are secured and the portfolios are also secure five minutes before the expected loss we will see you on the other side at zero two five eight Zulu, good reading now for those of you who have been following, you know that the advisors go down to the most dynamic parts of the flight, which of course would be reentry, would be considered one of those helmets that they have is actually 3D printed, which I personally think is pretty impressive, the outer layer of the spacesuit is fire resistant. um they wear hearing protection uh during both ascent and reentry uh and you know the spacesuits look cool but most importantly they keep the crew safe during all phases of flight now as we mentioned before we pointed to a splashdown on the Florida Gulf Coast near Panama City, the splashdown time is expected to be 1104 p.m. m., east, 804 p. m., Pacific, so you'll get here in just over 16 minutes.

The next thing we'll have in about three minutes is the anticipated signal loss for Los, as we heard it mentioned in communications, that's a live view of theSpaceX mission control here in Hawthorne California ax2 is a second mission with SpaceX and there are two more planned, ax3 and ax4, it will also be on SpaceX vehicles at Axiom headquarters, uh, Michael López Agria, our lead astronaut is our commander. for ax3 and Mike López Alegría, also known as smla, is already training, so the ax3 mission is already underway, so we are now approaching the anticipated loss of signal or loss, once again, it is expected to last seven minutes.

We are entering the period of communication blocking or signal loss. This will last seven minutes due to the formation of plasma around the outside of the spacecraft. During this time, the mission control or recovery team does not receive telemetry from the vehicle and no external command of the vehicle or voice communication is possible as a reminder dragon is designed to fly alone and continues to use autonomously. Draco thrusters to orient itself during the re-entry phase. During reentry, the vehicle will decrease its orbital speed, which is approximately 17,500 miles. per hour um and basically it will continue to decrease much of that deceleration, or excuse me, much of that deceleration occurs during this atmospheric re-entry um and then the maximum temperature for the dragon, as I said before, the outside temperatures reach approximately 3 500 degrees Fahrenheit for that the crew stay comfortable while we're flowing nitrox, cold nitrox, both in their suits and in the interior cockpit of the dragon, while it's hot outside and we'll see the evidence of that once we have light shining on the dragon and it's.

Raised on the deck of our recovery ship, Megan, we will be able to see the ablative material on the outside of the capsule, it will have some charring, which is a good indication that it worked, let's call it. those toasted marshmallows that's the kind of brown patina that reminds me once again we're in the early communications blackout period we have about four minutes left the total run time for this blackout period is seven minutes so we're about half of um in the previous crew

returns

, we have sometimes regained communication faster than expected, so probably in a couple of minutes we will hear SpaceX core Michael Blasko start calling the crew to see if we can recover those communications.

Now, our first views of the dragon. Hopefully, we can recover those communications. Bring them back soon, but it will be the thermal cameras that we will track the dragon's re-entry. If you live on the Gulf Coast, it should be visible crossing the night sky once again. We have an anticipated splashdown time of 11:04 p.m. Eastern time. So in 10 minutes, at about 18,000 feet altitude, the drop parachutes will deploy and after that, at about 6,000 feet altitude, we will have the main parachute deployment and there we will have our first live view of Dragon Freedom with the Axiom 2 crew. coming from one of our thermal tracking cameras I think this might actually be the WB um reproducing NASA's wb57 aircraft.

This is a thermal imaging trail camera. There are approximately two minutes until we have anticipated capacity. Until when we anticipate being able to restore communications. With the crew once again, the buildup of plasma on the outside of the capsule prevents any communication from entering or leaving the Dragon capsule. We see SpaceX engineers there at the console monitoring the dragon's progress as it autonomously heads to the Splashdown site off the coast. From Florida, we are once again targeting a landing near Panama City in the Gulf of Mexico and a small, rather excited crowd outside Mission Control here at SpaceX can be seen there awaiting the return of the tenth mission of members of the crew aboard the Dragon.

Yeah, and we're underway with our second shift operations here at SpaceX headquarters, so we can see some people while you guys, uh, yeah, you can definitely watch your Gathering waiting for more views. Oh, there's a beautiful photo, we can see that capsule now going through the night. Sky, I think this camera view could be coming from the recovery ship or one of the air assets we have in the area. We are now reaching the end of expected signal loss so we are now moving towards AOS or signal acquisition that is awesome and we should probably listen to SpaceX core Michael Blasko start curing Dragon SpaceX Comcheck we have it loud and clear equally good have it back wait for the automatic shot deployment dragging the cup very good good news those communications have been restored with the Axiom crew the next event we have ahead of us GPS has converged we expect a nominal altitude for the drug shot deployment now we hope those drugs work When the Dragon capsule is at about 18,000 feet altitude and we are about a minute and a half away from the deployment of the foreign Chaser aircraft, these are thermal images of Grace to drive.window which is now ready for the deployment of the drop parachutes, these will be the first of two sets of parachutes that will deploy to help further slow the Dragon capsule.

In case those punches roll out, I apologize for making those jokes at any time, now it seems like they are. Now let's visualize two healthy drugs that muzzle Coffee Tree healthy drugs. Alright, there's good news. Those two drug parachutes have been deployed that help stabilize the Dragon capsule and provide that initial deceleration through the parachute. Next, we will have the main parachutes deployed at the speed of the vehicle. The main fire deployment is about 119 miles per hour and they deploy between sixty five hundred and six thousand feet and there we can see those Strokes moving away exposing the main parachutes.

There are four main parachutes on the Dragon capsule and they appear to be expanding now. that loop means nominal descent speed and dragon copy nominal seats now this is a really cool view from the Dragon capsule which is actually from the Basin where the main parachutes copied a parameter uh a thousand meters so if you're from where were those main parachutes located From this moment we will hear Commander Peggy Whitson say the altitude uh of the Dragon capsule, so we just hear her say one kilometer, that is, one kilometer above the surface of the ocean, copy 800.

So, right now we can see that we have four. Healthy main parachutes have been deployed for the Axiom 2 crew within minutes. They've gone from 17,500 miles per hour to about 70 miles per hour. You have the or excuse me when the main parachutes deployed. They were going about 119 miles per hour um and when they actually land on the water it's about 10 miles per hour about 400 copy 400 meters 200 The cruiser stops copy 200 in preparation for Splashdown just waiting for Splashtown from the Axiom 2 crew ax2 is from return on Earth, as you can see on your screen, visual confirmation of the Splashdown of our Dragon spacecraft Dragon Freedom has returned home with the crew ax2 SpaceX C Splashdown and Mains cut at this time, go to procedure 4 decimal eight zero zero and we're on that search for four decimals eight zero zero SpaceX sees this and upstream riding SpaceX sees the same Peggy John Ali Rihanna on behalf of SpaceX welcome home, at SpaceX we would like to tell you that it was a phenomenal trip, we really enjoyed it all. you're the best, okay now, as you can see on your screen, the SpaceX recovery team, uh, and the ships have been waiting for Dragon Splashdown, which they did on time just a minute ago at 804 p.m.

Pacific, you will now head to the Splashtown location. The teams have been ready and waiting about three nautical miles away, so they chose the dragon. We feel like we're probably on a stable copy chart. Okay, that communication right there. Commander Peggy Whitson. Basically, we estimate what position the dragon is in, depending. about how you land, generally speaking, on vertical lands, excuse me, what we refer to as table one, but it will take the teams about 30 minutes to reach our team inside the dragon, as you can see in your The recovery teams of screen now head to the Dragon spaceship.

We are excitedly waiting for your recovery dragon to have already autonomously completed several steps to reach Safe after Splashtown. We can see many bright lights there next to the equipment both in the water and in the air. Help ensure the recovery team can absolutely see what they're doing, and for those of you just joining us, the return of ax2 has gone smoothly so far. Dragon Freedom successfully re-entered Earth's atmosphere, followed by the deployment of its parachutes to slow the spacecraft. At a smooth speed of 15 miles per hour, the dragons successfully landed in the Gulf of Mexico at 804 p.m.

Pacific time, just in time off the coast of Panama City, Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico and we are now awaiting the recovery of the dragon, yes, now, upon detection of the landing. Dragon automatically releases the main parachutes and that is to help prevent the spacecraft from being pulled by the wind. The dragon then automatically stores any pyrotechnics still present on the vehicle and Mayo Dragon SpaceX is ready for recovery personnel to approach. Please expect staff to be together in about a minute, thank you. You, SpaceX core Michael Blasko, just let the crew know that they can expect some people to make it to the Dragon capsule.

Those are the fast ships we see now approaching. The View we have now is actually coming towards us from our recovery ship Megan, which is also heading to the Dragon capsule, but it doesn't go as fast as the fast ships, so it takes a little longer, so in this point we will see operations come closer and closer into view, but at this time, the astronauts remain seated and in their suits, and the air conditioning on board keeps temperatures under control inside the spacecraft and the communication systems on board they stay on so that, as we just heard, the crew can continue to communicate, that's correct and SpaceX has two fast boats in the recovery fleet that have moved quickly to the splashdown point.

Followed by Megan, as Kate just said, is the main recovery craft that will move into position for her upwind of the spacecraft. The two speed boats have very specific functions, the first one. The focus is on immediate safety inspection of the capsule's integrity and checking for any presence of hypergolic propellant vapors, ensuring it is safe for Megan to approach the Dragon spacecraft. Once the capsule is cleared for a full approach, the team begins preparing the capsule for water recovery. by the recovery ship the second speed boat is responsible for parachute recovery okay and we are complete with four different ways copy four decimal eight zero zero complete excellent just a few more updates on completion nominal checklist, as I said, the second speedboat is responsible for the recovery of the parachute and also serves as a redundant vote for the first and the dragon who requests permission to come aboard via the viewing camera only see more yes, you can upload a copy and work permit granted by Commander Peggy Whitson there on the net and lastly, at the speedboat points we will see a member of the team on a jet ski helping to collect the now detached parachutes.

Now it will take the recovery team a little over 10 minutes to complete all of those security checks. and once they are complete, the team will begin preparing Dragon to be lifted into the recovery vessel as part of the preparation for that lift. A recovery team member will climb to the top of the capsule so they can attach the dragon's lift rings and connect the elevator. lines, it will take less than an hour to load Dragon onto the recovery boat and remove the crew from the spacecraft and then, after medical checks, the crew will return to the cape by helicopter and be reunited with their families.

That's great. I would love to have it. The role of jump viewing camera is on board. I wouldn't want to have that at all. I've said it in previous Splashdown webcasts. The individual responsible for jumping into the ocean at night sounds like a nightmare to me, so I have a ton of respect for the people who are trained and willing to do that job, it's an important job that's actually a very technical role, as They have to go through a lot of training, excuse me, and they also need to be you know, they have to know where they're allowed to step and really how to place the accessories, as I mentioned before, those points ofelevation where the Dragon will then be hooked and lifted into the recovery vessel, we can see the Dragon Castle getting closer and closer into view as our recovery vessel Megan heads to the Splashdown site Dragon Hypergirl sweeps the unfired ordinance controls are nominal rigging in progress about 25 that's two five minutes until capsule lift on hold for PMC with SpaceX flight surgeon well that was the core of SpaceX Just letting the crew know that all unused pyrotechnics are saved and that they will now begin preparing the capsule for rigging and that PMC, which we heard, means private medical conference, so it will be the opportunity for each crew member to have a private conversation with the flight surgeon, just a check-in fast to make sure everyone feels happy and healthy.

We can see those other boats, the speed boats and the jet skis going around, even though we are collecting the parachutes. out of the water and a few moments ago we heard the call for hypergolic testing or sniffing for that just to make sure there are no hypergolic vapors around the Dragon capsule as they are poisonous to breathe we want to make sure there are none. there, oh, that's actually our first live view of the back of the recovery ship Megan. We can see the recovery members there on the deck of the ship nesting in the center.

It's where Dragon will end up once we get it out of the water Dragon onto the ground now it's public, okay, now I have a better view of the recovery team there on the right side making their way, progressing in setting up and preparing the Dragon capsule to exit the ocean and enter. the platform there on the left side of the screen, one thing to note, excuse me, the bright lights that can attract insects, that attract fish, that sometimes attract dolphins, as we have seen in previous night recoveries, it seems that there is a drone up there, the recovery team on the right side, so yeah, we might see some splashes in the water near where the recovery teams are and now we can see that view on the right side, the recovery team member from SpaceX, yes, but now we have a full screen of that SpaceX recovery team member actually visible boarding the Dragon capsule, as I said before, this is a highly specialized and trained doctor within the recovery team.

Like on the Dragon capsule you know that certain areas are wet as it just splashed down and they have to make sure the ring and lift points are attached and secured to the Dragon capsule, recovery vessel Megan approaches the Splashdown site , looks like the equipment on the right in the recovery container on the right. It was uh finishing it, you can see there, they are pulling the parachutes towards the boat as I mentioned before, the physical evidence of that re-entry phase is now evident, uh, visible, well, not at this time, uh, but it will be momentarily, um, that carbonization on the carbonization on the outside of the capsule on that ablative material or rather it is a thermal protection system, as its name indicates, helps protect the capsule.

During that atmospheric re-entry, we can now see the Megan recovery vessel spinning and will begin to return to its place. towards the Dragon capsule for those of you who have just joined us. Ditching occurred at 1104 p.m. ET 804 PT Just in time, we heard that the weather conditions in this area were exceptional and that certainly appears to be the case here. We can see on the screen, uh, we can see the recovery team member at the bottom right directing traffic, if you help me guide the recovery ship towards the Splashdown site, now the structure that we see above and above I thought that we were.

We'll get some communications there, but maybe not. That elevator we see above were two members of the recovery team. It's a hydraulic lift that once we get close to Dragon, it will actually push up a little bit and basically ride over Dragon. We are in transition, the forward communication link will be unavailable for approximately five minutes. Good read, since I was saying that the hydraulic lift will tilt over the rear end or the stern end of the ship, uh, and over the Dragon capsule, the recovery team member, uh. that is in the capsule will actually receive the harnesses and lift cables and connect them.

Then we'll see that team member, one of my favorite parts to watch out for in the recovery process, that individual will just jump right into the water. and we will get on one of the fast boats in the area and in a matter of seconds that hydraulic lift that we see there will lift and position the Dragon capsule up and out of the water and into that Nest that we see. there in the center of the deck and that part is really the fastest recovery part and then once the dragon is capsuled into that Nest, that Nest is pushed forward basically like below where the camera position is now and onto the deck of the ship and that's where the SpaceX team and the flight surgeon will be ready to open that side hatch after a few more safety checks and that will be a very exciting moment for the Axiom 2 crew with the reopening of that side hatch.

Now keep in mind that it has been closed since they took off from planet Earth 10 days ago. That side hasn't been open since before takeoff, so reopening that side hatch will be the first breath of ground air, which in this case will be very humid. and salty smell that they will have received uh in the last 10 days. I love how we are still on their mission, in fact they went through extensive water rescue training, just by this time the Axiom Crews train in water rescue and ax2 is gone. different they had some pretty extensive water rescue training so we're still on the mission yeah so this is a great view we really get a good glimpse of the SpaceX team member that's aboard the capsule as it spins around a little bit there .

Again I volunteer for that position, I think it's funny, yeah it's a really hard position to have, like I said, they train a lot for it, and it's hard because they're in a wetsuit, and when you think about it, I know they're soaked when they try to climb to the top of the Dragon capsule. You know they came aboard after jumping into the ocean. So yeah, like I said, they're soaked. You know everything is very slippery. They have to know exactly where they can hold on to do their job safely. It's a pretty amazing job to think that just 12 hours ago this crew was in space, they were on the International Space Station and now here they are floating in the ocean, what a trip for ax2.

I mean, you could even say just an hour ago. we were still in space in microgravity um yeah, so we see that now one of those guidelines has been attached um we can see them orienting the capsule a little bit this operation is highly choreographed um although it might look a little like a traffic jam uh here and there , but it is very rehearsed and each member of the team has a specific and exact job. The recovery team practices both daytime and nighttime recovery. I guess the direct link transition completes the pups, so it looks like it comes with the team now restored after.

They were simply transitioning some of the communication links or loops that we have and so I want to point out to the individual that the recovery team member who is in the Dragon capsule is actually standing in the bay where those parachutes have been. main. housed for the entire Mission, so that gives you an idea of ​​how big that storage compartment is and how big those parachutes are, even though they are packed very densely and tightly, all four of them fit and with those parachutes Deployed, we've lost some weight and payload in that sense, but we still come back with 300 pounds of science to process here on Earth, including our crew members and our fifth crew member, Gigi, yeah, one of the things that I loved. about this mission was that it wasn't just focusing on Stem, it was focusing on Steam, which for those who may not be familiar is Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, but with the addition of Arts, so S-t-e-a-m instead of just them and about three minutes until the capsule lifts the dragon, happy three minutes to live well, the recovery teams are now preparing to lower the ship's hydraulic lift mechanism into the water to take the spacecraft to the recovery system. translation on deck known as The Nest, as Kate mentioned, Dragon will remain in the nest during crew extraction and for the return trip to port, the capsule is currently about to be lifted.

I think we'll meet here in a second. It will focus and then orient itself on that nest. Then the Dragon will be moved. in the hangar under the helipad aboard the ship so we can open the hatch, of course, once open a SpaceX doctor will be the first to check on the crew to see if they are ready to exit the vehicle. You can see that the recovery team member is still working to secure the harness to the capsule climbing like a highly skilled. Oh, here we go for the capsule lift race, as I mentioned before, this will happen very quickly, this is one of the most efficient and fastest. parts of the recovery process, so don't blink, let's see the fast boat now clearing the way for the elevator that is now running.

Now we should see the actual weight of the hydraulic lift and lift it out of the water. There we go, a really good view of the heat shield on the bottom, which is the side of the capsule that was basically facing Earth during re-entry, since the harnesses will now hold the bottom of the capsule, that heat shield and they will line it up to place it there in the nest. See some water splashing around. The bay that held the parachute, the main parachutes, seems to have almost settled into position. I guess the last dynamic move of our cruise trip almost once the capsule is placed in the nest.

The nest will then move forward, um, it's. almost like it grows tiny legs that are invisible and just run out of the camera's view, but that will be the true last movement of the pod before the side hatch opens. Now we can see the members of the recovery team who I will know have put on or put on some respiratory equipment, so right now they are connecting to Dragon to welcome you aboard the recovery vessel. Recovery personnel are completing final checks and awaiting translation to the departure platform. Yeah, getting copies, so the reason why they are. wearing respirators at this time is that once the Dragon capsule has moved, as we just heard, to the platform on the inner side of the reversal, they will perform some additional hypergolic safety checks to ensure that there are no vapors or fumes left, but right now We're actually just capping the thrusters to help ensure that none of those vapors come out and that's actually the platform where the Dragon capsule will glide in the final translation move, exactly the Dragon glide so you can see recovery team members now.

Unhooking the safety cables and harnesses that pulled Dragon out of the water and helped secure him in position, it is now difficult to see, but we can still see the windows of the Dragon capsule, they are a little dirty at this point. but those are the two circular shapes on either side of the side hatch, so we can see that above the side hatch is where those parachutes were located and also where some of those additional safety harnesses are located that that rig is in, once all the service section Draco's thrusters are plugged in and you can also see some of that happening now that they are doing some of those hypergolic sniff checks so the thruster that the dragon uses is different than the thruster that Falcon uses .

The dragon thruster is uh. mono mono methyl hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide or mmh and nto and when they come into contact with each other they burn instantly so it's a great propellant for when you're in orbit because you don't need an ignition source which is good because you usually don't you want ignition sources in space, so these two boosters are great for in-orbit operations, but they're toxic to breathe, which is why we're taking these extra measures because Dragon had a lot of those two boosters on board and, uh, you know that just an hour ago some of those Draker Draco thrusters were firing, so just to make sure none of those vapors are present, I think we saw a thumbs up from someone doing those hypergolic checks as they zoomed out for those of you who They recently tuned in, uh, we had alanding on time at 1104 p.

ET, 804 p.m. Pacific Time, the Dragon capsule has been lifted out of the water, they landed near Panama City, Florida, on the Gulf Coast, so it's been lifted, um, the astronauts, uh. Well I'm getting ahead of the Dragon capsule and in a few moments it will move or translate uh just out of the camera view we have another camera view and we will be able to see it there but it will split into a position near the deck where the crew will be able to exit through the side hatch and then once that side hatch is open, it will be the Axiom II cruiser's first breath of fresh air since they boarded the Falcon 9 at the start of their mission in May. 21, which was just 10 days ago, so we are now waiting for a translation of the Dragon capsule that will put it in position to open the side hatch after undergoing additional hypergolic controls and a pressurization of the spacecraft cabin, for What before opening the side hatch we have to make sure that the environment inside the spacecraft is the same or the same as the outside environment so that we can just make out the recovery team making their final preparations before sliding the Dragon capsule into position, recovery operations are for me personally really fascinating o I should say reentry and recovery because a lot of this goes very fast and then it goes very slow so you know all the steps coming out of the International Space Station and we can see that the Dragon capsule now is moving.

Towards the forward end of the boat deck, once again, this is our recovery boat Megan, servicing our golf landing sites. Another camera view there sees him move into position, as I mentioned, all members of the recovery team wear those personal respirators to help ensure that if any hypergolic vapors remain, they do not come into contact with them as they are right next to them. the capsule and start spraying the capsule to try to remove some of that salt water. Okay, we'll use this. ladder to climb towards the top to do more of those hypergolic checks as I mentioned before, that side hatch is where the Axiom 2 crew will exit from Dragon, waiting for the opening and exit of the side hatch, well, we can see the recovery.

The team is now taking off whatever personal protective equipment or PPE they can get their hands on, they can get rid of those respirators as the hypergolic boxes have been cleared. You can really see the different colors now on the dragon's side. You know, a moment ago, everything was like this. white now that evidence of re-entry I always love being able to see the heat shield when the dragon comes out of the water. Okay, we can see that the recovery team is now opening the side hatch. There it is, this is the first one. A breath of fresh air, in this case, salt air for the Axiom 2 crew since they boarded the Falcon 9 just 10 days ago.

The first person to arrive is the doctor who conducts checks with the crew members to make sure everyone is okay. I see some thumbs up. and saying hello, see some Rihanna varnali greetings there on the left, the first photos being taken there. I think they're getting the hatch seal but I'm glad to see our team already waving for their photo shoot lol so right outside of you there's a Over there that plastic, I shouldn't say it's plastic but I'm not very sure what it's made of, but that accessory will actually help protect the side hatch when the crew exits, as I mentioned before we reuse our Dragon capsules.

This is actually the second time this capsule has been in space. It depends on the accessory to help protect the side hatch elements from damage when the crew exits. You know they are returning from a bit of time and space. And we want to make sure everyone is safe, so we will partially help them get out of the capsule, but we will also help ensure the integrity of the hardware. First view of our crew. Ax2, happy greetings and holding hands. It's wonderful to see it about 10 days later. orbit and the crew is almost ready to exit through that side hatch.

You can see the team putting that protective device in place and also starting to gather the items from the cruiser, those are the tablets they were carrying around their legs and we can see the On The Edge people. on the left side of your screen, following our procedures that document what comes out of the capsule to make sure everything is accounted for once again, this image they are putting in one place only helps ensure that the side hatch remains protected while the crew is exiting, they used a similar accessory while the crew was entering as well, it looks like one of the footrests or footrests comes out of one of the cruiser seats, it helps to remove all four, um, just to help get a little extra space inside the capsule, well, we can see the members of SpaceX.

SpaceX recovery members are placing the slide that the Axiom 2 crew will use to exit the capsule or exit, as they have passed. the last few days, excuse me, the last few days not the last 10 days in space, the effects of microgravity even during that period of time can be felt, so to ensure your safety we will help you out of the capsule, but I have a Feeling like we'll also see big smiles and some happy waves at the same time, definitely, although I can imagine this moment is a bit bittersweet because you know they're back home, but that also means they're no longer in space.

It's a feeling that Commander Peggy Whitson has experienced so many times, yes, yes, I love that she was able to extend her record. She's now 674 days in space, which is just incredible, but yeah, this must be a bittersweet moment knowing that you're home. You will be able to see your family soon, but the trip to space is already over. I think I heard Peggy in an interview after she retired from NASA say that she was asked what are you going to do now and she said: I'd like to come back. into space and she certainly she did.

I'm sure the families of our Ax2 crew are eagerly awaiting this moment to see their loved one jump out the side hatch and even more so to have them land in their arms and share those hugs. do all those handshakes and high fives, now you're ready for the crew exit, where you'll get out of your seats and exit the Dragon capsule, as I mentioned before, the side hatch we can see now open, the last time we opened was When the crew entered the capsule, so it was closed and locked before takeoff and stayed there, the crew used the forward hatch, which is the hatch, um, out of the picture right now, it's located in the upper part, at the front end of the capsule.

Oh, and that's the hatch that's used to dock with the International Space Station, so all the trips they took while on the ISS were through that front hatch that we can't see right now because it's covered by the nose. cone and just that you know something off scene here, it looks like we might be close to seeing our first crew member, uh, yeah, starting to see our first crew member exit the Space X Dragon vehicle, who is it, I think it might be Peggy. That looks like Peggy Commander Peggy Whitson appears to have exited the vehicle.

It's pretty impressive that she was able to tell that she had help standing up, but she basically walked away. That's really impressive. Her vestibular system is pretty good. trained really set the bar high for everyone else coming after her. I wouldn't like to do that. Okay, we have the legs of our second crew member. If they're retreating from the center, I bet it's our pilot John Schoffner, but. We'll see that in general it's easier to have the two crew members in seats two and three, so usually the commander and pilot exit first on the right and that looks like our pilot John Schoffner, so at this time two of the four Axiom 2 crew members have exited the capsule awaiting the departure of Our two Mission specialists now remove the footrests from those other two seats once again, this helps create additional space to move around and exit instead. to slide.

I should say, actually on the right is the Axiom flight surgeon, our Ax2 lead flight surgeon, Michelle. Ong helping our mission specialists who looks like Rihanna Ariana barnawi coming out of a Dragon capsule, a little help, yeah, nice little photo opportunity, little celebration right there again, super impressive to me, you know, These crew members are leaving after being helped up, so now. With Rihanna leaving, the only thing left is Ali Alcarni, our other Mission specialist who was sitting on the far right and our flight surgeon Michelle Hong will accompany our crew all the way back to Houston, keeping an eye on them the entire time.

See the feet now of the final members of our crew starting to exit the hatch through the hatch Ali al-karni making his exit from Dragon Freedom pausing for a little photo that's cool well this crew looked as if all the smiles were coming out of that foreign capsule and now that our crew is safely home on Earth and receiving their first checks by our onboard medical team, we will conclude our live

coverage

of their historic return for those of you who didn't have the opportunity to follow that ax2. The crew lifted off from Launch Pad 39a on Sunday, May 21, and arrived at the International Space Station approximately 15 and a half hours later, marking the fastest Dragon launch to docking time for a human spaceflight.

The mission spent a total of 10 days in space, eight days. on the ISS before undocking just over 12 hours ago and most recently at 804 p.m. Pacific time, landed off the coast of Florida in Panama City, just in time to celebrate three years of human spaceflight for SpaceX, marking three years since the launch of dm2 that's cool and what a trip incredible this has been. The next step will be a helicopter flight back to the coast. They will transfer to a plane that is waiting ready to take them to Houston. Well, this largely concludes the flight portion of the ax2 mission.

The research portfolios that were conducted at the station will continue to be reviewed and analyzed. Some of their studies will even continue over the coming days and months. Well Kate, it's been a real pleasure sharing this desk with you and both of us for the launch of ax2 again. May 21 and now Splashdown today, so we thank SpaceX for an incredible flight and for taking such good care of our crew and everyone watching, it has been an honor and a privilege to share Peggy John Ali and Rihanna's journey to the space and back. Once again, as we conclude this mission, we celebrate how the ax2 mission is demonstrating that the opportunities presented in microgravity are going beyond ISS partners to include more countries, institutions, industries and individuals than ever before.

Here's how Axiom Space is expanding access. to low Earth orbit and building history, as we like to say, be sure to visit axiomspace.com as we continue to look for new commercial opportunities for human spaceflight. I'm Duke Brady, I'm here with Kate Tice from

spacex

and we say goodbye now with One last welcome home for the ax2 crew. Thank you, Duke, as well as everyone else for joining us. See you soon abroad. You can't see it. It can dive to more than 250 meters and stay down for six months. I don't hear her. It can run for 20 years without refueling.

It is the most lethal weapon ever designed. A bad battle station missile. An apocalyptic machine capable of devastating entire continents. The USS Pennsylvania is an Ohio-class submarine. The biggest.