The teams at Axiom Space, NASA, and SpaceX have decided to postponed undocking of the Ax-1 mission until Sunday, April 24 due to high winds at the splashdown site. Axiom Space has updated the media advisory.
NASA posted additional details on the ISS blog, “Axiom Mission 1 Undock Postponed to Sunday, Space Station Reboosts” saying:
“At the conclusion of a weather briefing ahead of today's planned undocking, NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX teams elected to wave off today's undocking attempt due to a diurnal low wind trough which has been causing marginally high winds at the splashdown sites. The Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) crew is now targeting to undock from the International Space Station 8:55 p.m. EDT Sunday, April 24. Weather permitting, the Ax-1 crew is targeted to close the hatch about 6:45 p.m. Sunday, April 24, to begin the journey home in SpaceX Dragon Endeavour with splashdown off the coast of Florida approximately 1:00 p.m. Monday, April 25. “
The schedule has been updated and live coverage of the Ax-1 return will include three separate segments over two days - hatch closure, undocking and splashdown. All segments will be available at AxiomSpace.com. The full schedule includes:
HATCH CLOSURE
6:30 p.m. ET, Sunday, April 24
Coverage will begin at 6:30 p.m., with hatch closure targeted for 6:45 p.m. Coverage will conclude shortly after hatch closure and will be available on AxiomSpace.com and NASA.gov/live.
UNDOCKING
8:30 p.m. ET, Sunday, April 24
Coverage of the undocking of the Dragon Endeavour with the AX-1 crew begins at 8:30 p.m. Undocking will occur at approximately 8:55 p.m. The webcast will conclude on Sunday around 9:15 p.m. after Dragon fully departs the protected area around the ISS. The webcast will be available on AxiomSpace.com, NASA.gov/live and SpaceX’s YouTube channel.
SPLASHDOWN
12:00 p.m. ET, Monday, April 25
Coverage will begin at 12:00 p.m. with splashdown targeted for 1:00 p.m. The webcast will continue through the recovery of the Dragon and the Axiom astronauts. Coverage will conclude at around 2:15 p.m., once the crew is safely out of the spacecraft. Watch events live on AxiomSpace.com and SpaceX’s YouTube channel.
POST-SPLASHDOWN TELECONFERENCE
3:30 p.m. ET, Monday, April 25
Following splashdown, Axiom Space and SpaceX leadership will provide remarks and take questions from reporters via teleconference. Participants include:
Derek Hassmann, Operations Director, Axiom Space
Benjamin Reed, Senior Director, Human Spaceflight Programs, SpaceX
To participate in the briefing media must request call-in details no later than 8 a.m. Monday, April 25, by emailing media@axiomspace.com. This is a teleconference-only event (not in-person) with audio-only.
This information will be updated as times are confirmed for events related to mission operations. Follow along for mission updates with #Ax1 on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, as well as our website.