Privately-funded crew returns to Earth in SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule after commercial space station visit
Retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, the U.S. record holder for time in space, Indian test pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, Polish astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski and Hungarian engineer Tibor Kapu undocked from the space station early Monday.
After nearly a full day coasting around the planet while waiting for the orbit to line up with the re-entry trajectory, the Crew Dragon's forward Draco thrusters fired for nearly 18 minutes starting at 4:37 a.m. EDT Tuesday to drop the ship out of orbit.
Plunging back into the discernible atmosphere on a northwest-to-southeast trajectory, the capsule rapidly decelerated in a blaze of re-entry heating before parachutes deployed to lower the ship to a gentle splashdown just west of San Diego at 5:31 a.m.
Over the next hour, SpaceX support crews "safed" the Crew Dragon, hauled it aboard the recovery ship Shannon, opened the side hatch and helped the returning fliers out of the spacecraft as they began re-adjusting to gravity after a three-week sojourn in weightlessness.
All four appeared healthy and in good spirits, smiling and waving as they exited.
This was the fourth so-called "private astronaut mission" to the International Space Station sponsored by Houston-based Axiom Space, which works with NASA to provide privately-funded research trips to the station.
The company charges up to $70 million or so per seat to carry non-NASA astronauts, professional researchers and others to the space station that might otherwise have no other route to orbit.
Axiom Space is using the missions to gain experience as the company presses ahead with plans to build a commercial space station that will provide a destination in low-Earth orbit for NASA and other nations after the International Space Station is retired in 2030.
Throughout their two-week mission, Whitson and her crewmates carried out a full slate of science research and technology demonstrations, along with interactive educational events with students and others in the crew's home countries. Researchers from 31 countries are helping evaluate data from the Ax-4 experiments and technology demonstrations.
Whitson, a retired NASA astronaut, is the most experienced American space flier, with 695 days and six hours and 48 minutes in orbit during five spaceflights -- three for NASA and two for Axiom Space. She now ranks eighth in the world for most time in space behind seven Russian cosmonauts.
She also logged 10 spacewalks during her earlier flights, making her the most experienced female spacewalker and seventh in the world overall.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump's $100B AI Shockwave: Nvidia Back in China, Coal Back on the Grid
The Trump administration is preparing a full-court press on artificial intelligence, with a major policy address scheduled for July 23 titled Winning the AI Race. It's expected to be Trump's most detailed take on the technology to date. The event is backed by White House AI and crypto advisor David Sacks and his All-In podcast co-hosts. Behind the scenes, a sweeping AI action plan is nearing completionbuilt with heavy industry inputand could soon be cemented by executive order. The blueprint focuses on cutting red tape, expanding energy access for data centers, and getting federal buy-in on a more streamlined, pro-growth regulatory regime. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Signs with NVDA. One of the headline shifts: the U.S. now plans to allow AI chipmakers to resume some exports to China. That includes Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA)'s H20 chips, a move seen as a significant win for CEO Jensen Huang, who has been openly critical of prior export bans. Huang met privately with Trump in Washington last week, where discussions reportedly focused on boosting U.S. AI competitiveness. For Nvidia and AMD, this could reopen a multi-billion-dollar channel that had been shut off earlier this year. The reversal comes amid growing concern over China's rapid AI developmenthighlighted by DeepSeek's surprisingly cheap R1 model that raised eyebrows across Wall Street in January. Energy is also taking center stage. With AI data centers projected to more than double their share of U.S. electricity demand by 2035from 3.5% to 8.6%the Trump team is calling for expanded use of coal, gas, and nuclear power. Earlier this year, Trump helped broker a $100 billion data center investment involving SoftBank, Oracle, and OpenAI. Meanwhile, a controversial bid to preempt state AI laws for a decade was ultimately stripped from the recent tax package, but not before it gained vocal support from tech investors like Marc Andreessen and Joe Lonsdale. Taken together, Trump's AI agenda is shaping up to be aggressive, industry-led, and laser-focused on outpacing China. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Wall Street Journal
27 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
TNB Tech Minute: Trump Touts Billions in Investments to Create AI Hub in Pennsylvania - Tech News Briefing
Full Transcript This transcript was prepared by a transcription service. This version may not be in its final form and may be updated. Julie Chang: Here's your afternoon TNB Tech Minute for Tuesday, July 15th. I'm Julie Chang for The Wall Street Journal. President Trump touted billions of dollars in investments from some of the world's biggest companies to create an artificial intelligence hub in Pennsylvania. Trump made the announcement during an AI and energy summit at Carnegie Mellon University earlier today. Google said it would put $25 billion into data centers and related infrastructure in the state and the surrounding region over the next two years. Private equity firm Blackstone promised another $25 billion and AI startup CoreWeave announced a $6 billion investment. Plus, Apple has struck a deal with MP Materials to buy $500 million worth of rare earth magnets. The move helps the iPhone maker expand its US supply chain. MP will supply Apple with magnets it produces in a Texas facility and use recycled materials processed at a site MP will build in California. Such magnets are used in iPhones as well as audio equipment and microphones inside various Apple products. MP said shipments are expected to begin in 2027. Finally, Tesla's VP of Sales, Service, and Delivery in North America has left the company. That's according to people familiar with the matter. Troy Jones had been with the electric car maker for 15 years. It's the latest high-level departure at Tesla. Less than a month ago top aid to CEO Elon Musk and top AI executive Omead Afshar left the company. Tesla has been facing declining sales and shrinking margins amid increased competition and pressure on its brand stemming from Musk's stint in politics. And that wraps up your TNB Tech minute for today. Join us again tomorrow morning for your next quick tech update.
Bloomberg
27 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Elon, Inc: Remembering Musk's Political Rise
On this week's episode of Elon, Inc., host Max Chafkin and Bloomberg News reporters Dana Hull and Kurt Wagner chat about Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI. The endeavor just debuted its new Grok 4 model on the heels of an antisemitism controversy, but Musk sees a brighter future for his creation, claiming it might discover 'new physics' one day. Before that happens, though, the buzziest feature of the model is its AI companions—including a pigtailed and corseted anime character. Musk introduced Grok 4 as news dropped that one of his other companies, SpaceX, would invest in xAI, and that another company he happens to run, Tesla, might follow suit (pending a shareholder vote). Our guests discuss what exactly it means when a rocket company and a car company invest in another company that's making AI girlfriends, especially when all those companies happen to be run by the richest man in the world. Then Wagner takes over the hosting chair to interview New York Times reporter Teddy Schleifer about the role Musk and his Silicon Valley billionaire pals have played in building the Trump administration, starting before the Republican took office. The conversation is the first in a summer series in which our Elon, Inc. panelists interview Musk reporters about the stories we're jealous we didn't write first. Schleifer recounts the weeks following Election Day last year, when Musk embedded himself at Trump's home at Mar-a-Lago in an effort to influence the future president's plans. As candidates for top cabinet positions began swinging by the Florida club, they found themselves seated across from Musk's loyal aides. Wagner and Schleifer also discuss the constantly evolving relationship between Musk and Trump, and whether Musk will still be involved in politics when the year comes to a close.
