On Friday, August 8 at 11:17 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 launched Axiom Space’s Ax-1 mission, Dragon’s fifth human spaceflight to the International Space Station, from historic Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage landed on the droneship, A Shortfall of Gravitas, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
Axiom Space’s Ax-1 mission is the first all-private human spaceflight mission to the International Space Station. The Ax-1 crew will participate in educational outreach and conduct innovative research experiments while on the orbiting laboratory.
Live audio relay by ZS1I-R on Echolink started approximately two hours before launch and continued till well after the launch.
Ax-1, the first private astronaut mission to the International Space Station with four crew members are currently on their way to the ISS in a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and will remain in orbit for eight days. Docking, which is targeted for 7:45 a.m. ET (11:45 UTC) on Saturday, April 9. Follow Dragon and the Ax-1 astronauts’ flight to the International Space Station by connecting the Echolink via ZS1I-R.
Here are a few images courtesy of Axiom Space, Space X and NASA. (Click on images for larger view.)
