SpaceX sets new date for private Axiom-4 astronaut launch to the International Space Station
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The crew of Houston-based Axiom Space's next launch to the space station is back on the board.
Axiom's fourth astronaut mission (Ax-4) to the International Space Station (ISS) has a new launch date. The crew of four will liftoff aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than June 25, NASA announced Monday evening (June 23).
Liftoff is scheduled for 2:31 a.m. EDT (0631 GMT) from Launch Complex-39A, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, in Florida.. The launch had been indefinitely delayed last week due to a leak detected aboard the ISS. No update was given about that leak in NASA's announcement of the new launch date.
The leak in the station's Zvezda module isn't new, but a change in the pressure data that measures the leak's severity prompted NASA and Axiom to postpone the Ax-4 launch until safety could be assured.
The Ax-4 crew consists of former NASA astronaut and Axiom's director of human spaceflight Peggy Whitson. Whitson will serve as mission commander to Shubhanshu Shukla of India, Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski from Poland, and Tibor Kapu, from Hungary. All three will be the first astronauts from their respecitve nations to launch on a mission to the ISS.
Related stories:
— Axiom Space: Building the off-Earth economy
— International Space Station: Everything you need to know about the orbital laboratory
— Top 'safety risk' for the ISS is a leak that has been ongoing for 5 years, NASA audit finds
The mission is expected to last two weeks. While aboard the orbiting lab, the Ax-4 crew will conduct more science experiments and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) outreach events than any previous Axiom mission — more than 60 in total.
If all stays on schedule with Wednesday's early morning launch, the crew's Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the ISS at approximately 7:00 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT) Thursday, June 26. A livestream of the launch and rendezvous will be lived stream on Space.com.
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