Watch SpaceX's AX-4 Crew Dragon Drift Away From Space Station After Undocking

Space.com

A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying the Axiom Space Ax-4 crew undocked from the International Space Station.  See footage shortly after undocking when signal was re-acquired by mission control from the ISS.   "Ax-4 is commanded by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who is currently Axiom's director of human spaceflight. She's joined on the mission by pilot Shubhanshu Shukla and mission specialists Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski and Tibor Kapu," according to Space.com.   Credit: Axiom Space / SpaceX

Transcript

00:00Dragon, SpaceX, on the big loop, depart burn 1 complete and nominal.

00:06You are go to DOF suits per procedure 4.012.

00:11Nominal departure and 4.012 for Dragon.

00:23And we just had confirmation there that that second departure burn known as depart burn

00:311 has completed and it was executed as expected.

00:36The crew is now going to start doffing or removing their spacesuits and getting settled

00:42in for their 22.5 hour journey back to Earth again with that splashdown targeted for tomorrow

00:47morning July 15th off the coast of California.

00:55And as a reminder, just like during its approach to the International Space Station, Dragon's

00:59departure in deorbit is designed to be fully autonomous, requiring no action from the crew

01:03on board.

01:04However, unlike Dragon's arrival, there are no hold points during the departure sequence,

01:09therefore it takes a lot less time to leave the vicinity of the space station than to arrive.

01:14So we just had confirmation of that second departure burn being completed and that is the second

01:20in a series of four.

01:21However, it's the only one that was left within the vicinity of the space station.

01:26The next departure burn will take place about 45 minutes from now after Dragon is well on

01:31its way back to Earth and outside of the approach ellipsoid.

01:44Dragon is now about 195 meters away from the International Space Station.

01:53And should be crossing the Keepout sphere momentarily.

02:07We just heard confirmation that Dragon has exited the Keepout sphere.

02:10Again, the Keepout sphere is an invisible 200-meter line centered on the space station.

02:15It's one of several safety zones set up to govern spacecraft arriving and departing from

02:20the International Space Station.

02:22While spacecraft are inside the Keepout sphere, they have to be configured where they would not

02:26cross into the imaginary boundary for at least four orbits, even if the spacecraft lost

02:30all maneuvering.

02:34The next major milestone for Dragon's departure will be exiting the approach ellipsoid.

02:38This is planned to take place about 13 minutes from now.

02:42Station Houston on the Big Loop.

02:43Dragon has exited the Keepout sphere.

02:46Dragon copies.

02:50Station copies.

02:55Station looks beautiful.

03:10Dragon Grace, if we didn't have a shutter constraint, you could see us waving.

03:16So now that Dragon has exited the Keepout sphere, the next major milestone for Dragon,

03:42is crossing the keep or the approach ellipsoid that will take place a little over 10 minutes

03:47from now.

03:48The approach ellipsoid is another imaginary shape, similar to the Keepout sphere, but

03:52this time it's a three-dimensional ellipsoid measuring four kilometers by two kilometers

03:56by two kilometers by two kilometers.

03:58And one of the key differences with the approach ellipsoid is that vehicles outside of it have

04:02to be on what we call a 24-hour safe free drift trajectory.

04:05This means the spacecraft would not cross into the approach ellipsoid is that vehicles outside

04:07of it have to be on what we call a 24-hour safe free drift trajectory.

04:10This means the spacecraft would not cross into the approach ellipsoid for at least 24 hours,

04:14even if it lost all maneuvering.

04:17After the spacecraft crosses the approach ellipsoid, joint operations will end and responsibility

04:21for the spacecraft will be handed back to the SpaceX flight control team in Hawthorne,

04:26California.

04:27Again, everything continuing to look good with Dragon's departure today following a physical

04:31separation about 10 minutes ago at 6.15 a.m. Central, 7.15 a.m. Eastern.

04:38Dragon is now about 340 meters away from the International Space Station and continuing

04:46to increase that distance.

04:48And teams on the ground will continue to monitor the weather ahead of a splashdown tomorrow,

04:53Tuesday, July 15th at 5.31 a.m. Eastern off the coast of California.

04:58After Dragon exits the approach ellipsoid, there will be a couple of more departure burns

05:03and phasing burns to set the spacecraft up for the correct phasing and location for splashdown.

05:07And for those of you who are just joining us, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying the Axiom Mission 4 crew

05:15recently undocked from the International Space Station's Harmony module at 6.15 a.m. Central,

05:207.15 a.m. Eastern to complete an 18-day stay aboard the orbiting laboratory.

05:25Station Houston on the Big Loop.

05:27Johnny, please give Huntsville a call on Space to Ground 4.

05:31Dragon lifted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket on Wednesday, June 25th from Launch Complex 39A

05:50at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and docked to the space-facing port of the International Space Station's

05:55Harmony module after a 28-hour journey on Thursday, June 26th.

06:01During their stay aboard the International Space Station, the Axiom Mission 4 crew conducted more than 60 experiments,

06:08and they will now be returning to Earth with more than 580 pounds of science and hardware.

06:13This was the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station enabled by NASA.

06:19And while Dragon and the Axiom Mission 4 crew continued their departure from station,

06:23and as we stand by for the approach ellipsoid exit in just under 10 minutes from now,

06:28let's go ahead and check back in with Jesse and John in Hawthorne.

06:33Thanks, Anna.

06:34We've got some great live views here.

06:37Previously, we didn't have any live views because we had a loss of signal,

06:41which is normal as we are passing by several ground stations.

06:45We're now passing over a ground station where we do have acquisition of signal and getting these great live views.

06:51Also, in your bottom right-hand corner, you can follow along with this new graphic

06:56and see the thrusters firing on Dragon on the forward bulkhead,

07:00as well as the telemetry in the bottom left-hand corner.

07:03Now, as we mentioned earlier, Dragon is fully autonomous, which means it's capable of flying itself.

07:08Dragon was designed from the beginning for flying humans to space,

07:12even though its first missions carried only cargo.

07:15Now, before we could fly humans, our teams implemented a number of design upgrades to make sure that both Dragon and Falcon 9 are suitable,

07:21for flying people, and then put both vehicles through thousands of tests to prove their safety.

07:26Now, prior to the Axiom Mission 4, SpaceX successfully completed 52 flights of Dragon to and from orbit since 2010,

07:35including 47 trips to the International Space Station.

07:38AX-4 is SpaceX's 18th human spaceflight mission, and before Axiom Mission 4, SpaceX had flown 66 crew members,

07:47meaning that this mission brings that count to 70.

07:50That's incredible.

07:52You know, missions like this are important milestones for everyone involved,

07:55from the crew members who fly, to those that they represent,

07:58and to the host of scientists and engineers around the world who have an opportunity for their research

08:02or their technology to be tested in microgravity.

08:04Everyone learns from these missions.

08:06And for Axiom Space, this is at the heart of why we do these missions.

08:09We are building opportunities for others to advance what is possible and expand what is known.

08:13We want to enable every human everywhere to take part in this.

08:17Now, after a beautiful launch on June 25th, the AX-4 crew docked with the International Space Station

08:23a little over a day later, opening the hatch and greeting the Expedition 73 crew on June 26th.

08:28The crew shared some good words and a welcoming ceremony before quickly getting to work on their extensive itinerary.

08:33Now, each crew member brought with them a host of research, technology demonstrations, and outreach objectives,

08:39ranging from human physiology, to space radiation impact studies, and even some gardening.

08:44Now, this crew maintained a very full timeline, but they prepared for this.

08:48Each crew member wanted to ensure that every minute of this mission was utilized well, and that all objectives were hit.

08:56So Peggy, Shooks, Suave, and Tibor were ready to work.

09:00Now, over the course of 18 days on board the station, they accomplished over 60 research activities, as well as more than 20 outreach events.

09:08And as our time on station came to a close, the AX-4 crew participated in a brief farewell ceremony,

09:12where they said their goodbyes to the Expedition 73 crew.

09:16Now, for more details on the incredible work performed by this crew on orbit, check out axiomspace.com.

09:24Now, at this time, the crew is getting closer to reaching the approach ellipsoid,

09:30so let's head back to Ana at Johnson Space Center to step through these next moments.

09:35How's it going, Ana?

09:38Thanks, Jessie and John, and thank you for that update.

09:42We are continuing to stand by for Dragon to exit the approach ellipsoid.

09:47We are expecting that exit to take place about three minutes from now, around 6.34 a.m. Central, 7.34 a.m. Eastern.

09:59Dragon is currently about 700 meters away from the International Space Station, following a physical separation.

10:05The approach ellipsoid is one of several safety zones set up to govern spacecraft arriving and departing from the International Space Station,

10:24which is similar to the keep-out sphere, which Dragon exited about 10 minutes ago at 6.21 a.m. Central, 7.21 a.m. Eastern.

10:32But unlike the keep-out sphere, which is an invisible 200-meter line centered on the space station,

10:38the approach ellipsoid is a three-dimensional ellipsoid measuring 4 kilometers by 2 kilometers by 2 kilometers.

10:44When a spacecraft is outside the approach ellipsoid, they have to be on what we call a 24-hour safe free drift trajectory.

10:52This means the spacecraft would not cross into the approach ellipsoid for at least 24 hours again, even if it lost all maneuvering.

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