All-private SpaceX astronaut mission to return home from the ISS after nearly week-long delay
CNN
The first all-private mission to the International Space Station is slated to complete the final leg of its journey this weekend, capping off what turned into a longer-than-expected journey after bad weather kept the passengers on the space station for several extra days.
The mission, called AX-1, was brokered by the Houston, Texas-based startup Axiom Space, which books rocket rides, provides all the necessary training, and coordinates flights to the ISS for anyone who can afford it.
The four crew members — Michael López-Alegría, a former NASA astronaut-turned-Axiom employee who is commanding the mission; Israeli businessman Eytan Stibbe; Canadian investor Mark Pathy; and Ohio-based real estate magnate Larry Connor — are slated to leave the space station aboard their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule on Saturday at 8:35 pm ET. They'll spend a day free flying through orbit before plummeting back into the atmosphere and parachuting to a splashdown landing off the coast of Florida at about 1:46 pm ET Sunday.