00:01Dragon, SpaceX, on the big loop, depart burn 1 complete and nominal.
00:06You are go to DOF suits per procedure 4.012.
00:14Nominal departure and 4.012 for Dragon.
00:26And 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 space suits and getting settled
00:42in for their 22 and a half hour journey back to Earth again with that splashdown targeted
00:46for tomorrow morning, 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 and 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.
01:13So 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.
01:43Dragon is now about 195 meters away from the International Space Station and should be crossing the keep-out
01:55sphere momentarily.
02:06And we just heard confirmation that Dragon has exited the keep-out sphere.
02:10Again, the keep-out 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 the International Space Station.
02:22While spacecraft are inside the keep-out sphere, they have to be configured where they would not cross
02:26into the imaginary boundary for at least four orbits, even if the spacecraft lost all maneuvering.
02:33The next major milestone for Dragon's departure will be exiting the approach ellipsoid.
02:37This is planned to take place about 13 minutes from now.
02:41Dragon, Station, Houston, on the big loop.
02:43Dragon has exited the keep-out sphere.
02:50Dragon copies.
02:52Station copies.
02:59Station looks beautiful.
03:01Station looks beautiful.
03:10Stationundeつements.
03:12Dragon copies.
03:12Flame copies.
03:24Dragon copies.
03:26Dragon.
03:41So now that Dragon has exited the Keep-Out Sphere, the next major milestone for Dragon
03:46is crossing the Keep- or the Approach Ellipsoid that will take place a little over 10 minutes
03:51from now.
03:53That Approach Ellipsoid is another imaginary shape, similar to the Keep-Out Sphere, but
03:57this time it's a three-dimensional ellipsoid measuring four kilometers by two kilometers
04:00by two kilometers.
04:02And one of the key differences with the Approach Ellipsoid is that vehicles outside of it have
04:06to 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.
04:16After 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, California.
04:26Again, 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.
04:41Dragon is now about 340 meters away from the International Space Station and continuing to increase that
04:47distance.
04:47And 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.
04:59After Dragon exits the Approach Ellipsoid, there will be a couple of more departure burns and
05:03phasing burns to set the spacecraft up for the correct phasing and location for splashdown.
05:09And for those of you who are just joining us, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying the Axiom
05:15Mission 4 crew recently 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.
05:44Dragon 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
05:54Space Station's Harmony Module after a 28-hour journey on Thursday, June 26th.
06:00During their stay aboard the International Space Station, the Axiom Mission 4 crew conducted
06:05more than 60 experiments, and they will now be returning to Earth with more than 580 pounds
06:11of science and hardware.
06:12This was the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station enabled
06:17by NASA.
06:19And while Dragon and the Axiom Mission 4 crew continued their departure from station, and
06:23as we stand by for the Approach Ellipsoid exit in just under 10 minutes from now, let's
06:28go ahead and check back in with Jesse and John in Hawthorne.
06:33Thanks, Anna.
06:34And we've got some great live views here.
06:37Previously, we didn't have any live views because we had a loss of signal, which is normal
06:41as 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
06:50these great live views.
06:51Also, in your bottom right-hand corner, you can follow along with this new graphic and
06:56see the thrusters firing on Dragon on the forward bulkhead, as well as the telemetry in the
07:01bottom left-hand corner.
07:03Now, as we mentioned earlier, Dragon is fully autonomous, which means it's capable of flying
07:08itself.
07:08Dragon was designed from the beginning for flying humans to space, even though its first missions
07:13carried only cargo.
07:14Now, before we could fly humans, our teams implemented a number of design upgrades to make sure that
07:19both Dragon and Falcon 9 are suitable for flying people, and then put both vehicles through
07:24thousands 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
07:33since 2010, including 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
07:4566 crew members, meaning that this mission brings that count to 70.
07:50That's incredible.
07:52You know, missions like this are important milestones for everyone involved, from the crew members
07:56who fly to those that they represent, and to the host of scientists and engineers around
08:00the world who have an opportunity for their research or their technology to be tested in
08:03microgravity.
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
08:13known.
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
08:22Station a little over a day later, opening the hatch and greeting the Expedition 73 crew
08:26on June 26th.
08:28The crew shared some good words and a welcoming ceremony before quickly getting to work on their
08:31extensive itinerary.
08:33Now, each crew member brought with them a host of research, technology demonstrations, and
08:38outreach objectives, ranging from human physiology to space radiation impact studies, and even
08:43some 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
08:54that all objectives were hit.
08:55So, 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
09:04activities, as well as more than 20 outreach events.
09:07And as their time on station came to a close, the AX-4 crew participated in a brief farewell
09:11ceremony where 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
09:19axiomspace.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?
09:39Thanks, 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,
09:537.34 a.m. Eastern.
09:58Dragon is currently about 700 meters away from the International Space Station, following a
10:04physical separation about 16 minutes ago at 6.15 a.m. Central, 7.15 a.m. Eastern.
10:16The Approach Ellipsoid is one of several safety zones set up to govern spacecraft arriving and
10:21departing from the International Space Station, similar to the Keep-Out Sphere, which Dragon
10:26exited 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
10:37station, the Approach Ellipsoid is a three-dimensional ellipsoid measuring 4 kilometers by 2 kilometers
10:43by 2 kilometers.
10:44When a spacecraft is outside the Approach Ellipsoid, they have to be on what we call a 24-hour safe
10:51free drift trajectory.
10:53This means the spacecraft would not cross into the Approach Ellipsoid for at least 24 hours
10:57again, even if it lost all maneuvering.
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