The Axiom Space crew is scattered near Florida after a long stay on the International Space Station

Members of the International Space Station’s first astronaut team have just returned from their stay in the depression Harth orbit on Monday, parachute into The Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida.

A SpaceX Crew Dragon carrying four crew members from Axiom Space’s Ax-1 a taskplus more than 200 pounds of science experiments and supplies, departed the International Space Station Sunday at 9:10 p.m. ET. It landed on the ground on Monday at about 1:00 p.m. ET.

The Axiom Space Team Ax-1 Link On the International Space Station on Saturday, April 9 He was originally scheduled to stay for eight nights aboard the orbiting space station. However, due to unfavorable weather delays, they It ended up staying nearly twice as long on the International Space Station. The return of the mission has been postponed Several times due to “slightly strong winds”, according to to NASA.

“NASA and Axiom mission planning is set up for the possibility of additional time on the station for special astronauts, and there are adequate provisions for all 11 crew members on board the space station,” the space agency wrote in a blog. mail. Those extra nights spent on the International Space Station won’t add to your astronauts private tab, as they are they were It was already calculated in the original cost of the trip.

“Knowing that ISS mission objectives such as the recent Russian spacewalk or weather challenges could result in a de-docking delay, NASA negotiated the contract with a strategy that did not require any additional de-docking delay payment,” a NASA spokesperson Stephanie Scherholz Tell Space News.

However, the delay in undocking led to a launch regression NASA’s Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Jill Lindgren, Robert Haynes and Jessica Watkins and European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, It was scheduled to launch to the space station on a Falcon 9 rocket on Saturday, April 23, but that was Paid to Wednesday, April 27.

The crew made good use of their extra time in orbit. Michael Lopez-Alegria, Larry Connor, Eitan Stipe, and Mark Bathy continue to work on the valuable scientific research they have collected with them to the International Space Station, including data on astronauts’ health, an all-around device, and a space helmet that studies impulses from the brain. . After landing on Earth, the science payload was flown to the nearby Kennedy Space Center for further investigation.

“The success of this first private astronaut mission to the International Space Station is an important step in opening opportunities for space travelers and achieving NASA’s goal of enabling off-planet business in the Earth’s orbit, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said at a statment Released shortly after rain in the Atlantic Ocean.

Axiom has signed a deal with SpaceX for three additional astronaut missions to the International Space Station aboard the Crew Dragon. but the The space company keeps the cost of low-orbit flights secret, and refuses to reveal how much each passenger pays for a seat on the SpaceX Dragon.