Ax-2 Mission | Launch

foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] marks the beginning of yet another Incredible Journey from Axiom space and SpaceX as we lead the way in expanding access to low earth orbit for all of humanity you are looking at a live shot of the Falcon 9 rocket and dragon spacecraft that will carry the next four private astronauts to the International Space Station in just over three hours from now to everyone around the globe tuning in hello and welcome to the live launch webcast for the axio mission 2 or as we call it ax2 my name is Duke Brady and I'm a multimedia specialist with Axiom space based out of Houston Texas and I'm Kate Tice quality systems engineering manager here at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne California Duke it's so good to have you and the Axiom teams with us today very excited today's mission is a pretty cool milestone for SpaceX ax2 is our 10th human space flight Mission overall and our ninth human space flight mission to the orbiting laboratory since we started flying people back in 2020 with NASA's demo 2 mission it also marks spacex's second human space flight Mission this year following the NASA crew 6 launch in March to the International Space Station the ax2 crew will be joining Expedition 69 and dragon Endeavor also currently on station as we count down today's scheduled liftoff we'll be keeping you up updated on the status of the crew launch Vehicle Systems weather and all the technical aspects of launch and in between we'll be taking you behind the scenes of the ax2 mission what led up to this moment and what to expect during the course of this 10-day mission or Axiom space this Mission Builds on the incredible success of our first all private astronaut crew to the ISS last year the ax-1 mission and takes us one step closer to building and operating Axiom station the world's first private space station which is currently under construction ax2 is in the second of four missions is the second four mission SpaceX will launch for Axiom space and today's launch is the culmination of years of effort by teams at Axiom space to expand the opportunities of private citizens and Sovereign Nations around the world so that they can partake in the incredible science research and steam education related activities in low earth orbit in fact we just recently announced Axiom space access program which is designed to enable countries to realize long-term economic and scientific value in microgravity so if you want to fly to space or if your organization wants to conduct research and Manufacturing efforts in microgravity we have the teams that can help you develop your program we believe that the commercial effort and presence in low earth orbit has a duty to expand research and Manufacturing capabilities conducted in space for the benefit of all humankind and that's a big part of what makes today's Mission so exciting two members of our crew are citizens of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or KSA they are Rihanna barnawi the first ever Saudi female to fly to space and Ali al-karni a captain in the Royal Saudi Air Force together they are following in the footsteps of Sultan bin Salman al-saeed who flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery in 1985 but they also represent the first Saudi national astronaut class which we had the honor of helping select and train in preparation for this moment really exciting stuff now turning our attention to the crew they are suiting up inside right behind those doors that you see there that spacex's Falcon support building displays are configured for career Ingress and advanced teamwork is complete ready for crew rival on schedule all right just a call out there from our SpaceX core letting all teams know on countdown that we're tracking on time so that's great news to hear great uh so yeah they are getting suited up right now in preparation for their liftoff from that launch pad right there that of course is the historic launch complex 39a at Kennedy Space Center in Florida once they arrive at the space station the crew will spend eight days living and working on board before returning to Earth yes and over the course of that 10-day Journey the ax2 crew will conduct a wide range of research including several experiments that will help us understand more than ever about how our human bodies respond to microgravity the data they'll collect will be critical to furthering human exploration of space and along the way will inspire dreamers thinkers and explorers to follow in their footsteps every human space flight crew is unique with each astronaut bringing their own background and expertise to the mission with that let's introduce you to the ax2 crew the ax2 mission is commanded by retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson born and raised in Beaconsfield Iowa she was inspired along with the world when we watched the Apollo 11 crew walk on the moon she has since become the most experienced American astronaut and one of the most decorated Whitson flew three long-duration missions to the ISS and has more cumulative time and space 665 days than any U.S astronaut and more than any woman in the world she has conducted 10 spacewalks with over 60 hours out in the vacuum of space and has performed hundreds of research experiments on board the ISS not only is she the commander for this Mission but Peggy also serves as the Director of human space flight space flight for Axiom space pilot for ax2 is private Astronaut John schoffner born in Alaska and raised in Kentucky shafner is a steam education Advocate business Pioneer and lifelong space Enthusiast a pilot since the age of 17 John has over 8 500 flight hours holding commercial instrument single engine and multi-engine ratings in land and sea aircraft as well as helicopter he also holds ratings in former military jets and high performance radial engine aircraft as an athlete John has years of competitive experience in water skiing cycling White Water kayaking hand gliding skydiving and base jumping Jon has trained as the John train does the ax1 backup pilot and during this Mission plans to invest a lot of his time in Steam education activities aimed at empowering Educators and inspiring teachers representing the Saudi space commission and serving as a mission specialist Ali al-karni was born in March 1992 and sapped alalea Saudi Arabia Ali is fluent in English as well as his native Arabic and as an Air Force Captain Ali has 12 years of experience flying on multiple aircraft primarily on the f-15sa in service to the Royal Saudi Air Force Ali graduated with a bachelor of Aerospace science degree in 2013 from King Faisal Air Academy in Riyadh Saudi Arabia also representing the Saudi space commission and serving as a mission specialist rayana barnawi was born in September 1988 and Jeddah Saudi Arabia Rihanna has a master's degree in biomedical Sciences from alphaisal University in um and Riyadh and also has a bachelor's degree in biomedical Sciences from otago University and Dunedin New Zealand if that wasn't enough knowledge she is fluent in English and Turkish as well as native Arabic she has been a research lab technician since 2013 in the stem cell and tissue re-engineering program at King Faisal specialist hospital hospital and research Senator center located in Riyadh Saudi Arabia there you have it the ax2 crew this really is an amazing group of people who have spent months preparing for this moment we are already Beyond proud of them and can't wait to see them in space uh at the moment they should be making their final preparations inside our Fort Falcon support building and then soon they'll be making their first public appearance fully suited and ready to fly they should be walking out of those doors here in just a couple of minutes yes absolutely but you know as excited as we are for this crew in their launch there have been entire communities of loved ones both friends and family around the world who have been looking forward to this moment for quite quite some time actually so to Peggy John Ali and Rihanna here are a few words from those who love you to help mark this occasion [Music] how proud We Are that you're representing Middlesboro and all of us on your mission to the International Space Station we want to say thank you for allowing us to be part of your experience in taking us beyond the crater [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you has a great trip from the New Zealand family look right yeah [Music] good luck John have fun godspeed have fun going to outer space I am so fired up for you you have no idea wish you the best of luck and please please do send me a postcard from up there congratulations excited for you John good job [Music] wish you the best of luck uh I don't know who these people are but they will also want to wish you a safe and excellent Mission enjoy and say hi to the boys from all of us good luck tonight [Music] go out there and be the lights [Music] such a sweet insight into all that support and all those friends and family that's great the entire Axiom space team and all of our partners truly appreciate and are humbled by the worldwide interest and support for this historic flight today as the crew wraps up their preparations inside the Falcon support building let's provide a bit of an overview of the operations for today it's been a pretty busy morning already for the ax2 crew they woke up at about 9 A.M Eastern had their first medical checks of the day and then shared a meal with their quarantine support staff at 12 20 Eastern they Departed the quarantine facility and flew to Kennedy Space Center for a special moment with family and friends at the tarmac of the KSC launch and Landing facility this event also marked the formal handoff of the crew to SpaceX for today's launch around T minus three hours and 50 minutes the crew arrived at the suit up room and began putting their suits on right around then we also had the crew pre-launch briefing and that's where we share weather and launch details and basically give them their tablets which they get to bring with them during flight and all of that brings us to where we currently are suit up we are waiting for them to make their appearance but yeah there's been a lot of activity absolutely we know it about T minus 3 hours and 25 minutes the crew began suiting up and once that process is complete they'll exit the Falcon support building and get into their Teslas we will have two astronauts in each of the Teslas led by a support vehicle after that it's a short drive to the launch pad and once they arrive the crew will Ascend the fixed service structure and an elevator up to the 255 foot level that's the structure you see there on your screen to the right of the rocket the crew will then take the stairs up the last 10 feet where they will stop and make one final phone call before walking down that crew access arm to the White Room the white room is their last stop before climbing into the spacecraft a process known as crew Ingress during Ingress the SpaceX team will run a series of checks to ensure the suits seats and vehicle interactions are all functioning properly after all the vehicle and crew checkouts are completed the SpaceX closeout team will close dragon's side hatch and depart the pad at about T minus 40 minutes the crew access arm will retract away followed by the arming of the launch Escape system once the arm is retracted and the Escape system is armed propellant loading will begin on falcon 9. at T-minus 5 minutes Dragon will be configured for what we call terminal count this is when dragons onboard computers take control of the spacecraft and finally the moment we're all waiting for t0 Dragon and Falcon will lift off from pad 39a roughly 12 minutes after liftoff Falcon will separate from Falcon 9's second stage and spend the next 16 hours making its way to the International Space Station good afternoon I'm John insprecker Falcon 9 principal integration engineer here at SpaceX we're currently at T minus 3 hours 13 minutes and 18 seconds and everything looks good for an on-time launch later today now as Kate mentioned the crew received a weather briefing just a T minus four hours now the good news is the probability of violating launch conditions has decreased since yesterday we're down to only a 25 chance of a violation today the main constraint we're tracking is upper altitude anvil clouds the ground level winds are not a concern we're up to about maybe 17 18 miles an hour the upper level wind shear also is expected to be low but as we get later in the afternoon here in Florida the upper altitude winds could blow some of the clouds Inland over the launch site in the S and trajectory we are of course tracking weather all along the ascent recovery corridors today and we'll keep you posted as we continue to monitor those environments but currently Ascent weather looks good now PAD 39a as you can see on your monitor Falcon 9 is powered up engine checkouts were performed overnight pressurization of the gas storage tanks on the Falcon 9 completed about T minus four and a half hours now T minus two hours Falcon will begin its final checks for launch there will also be a communication check with the crew coming up at about T minus one hour and 55 minutes and of course propellant loading will begin at T minus 35 minutes now as with all of our launches to the International Space Station we have an instantaneous launch window at 5 37 PM eastern daylight saving time or 21 hours 37 minutes universal time if for whatever reason we are not able to launch today our next opportunity will be just under 24 hours later on Monday May 22nd all right at this point in time we're at T minus three hours 11 minutes and 20 seconds at this moment we are roughly five minutes before the crew is expected to walk out of the Falcon support building after which they will hop in the Teslas and head up to pad 39a which you see there on your screen as a reminder this is spacex's 10th Mission flying people since 2020 which is incredible to think about and our second of four missions for Axiom that's right very exciting for us well speaking of milestones in special moments I wanted to take a moment to highlight a tradition we started at Axiom space when the ax1 crews went on their mission and has continued with this crew a few weeks ago just before the crew headed to quarantine we held our stepping into space ceremony teams across the Axiom family gathered at our Axiom engineering facility and joined with the ax2 crew to celebrate not just the ending of their training but also that important pivot to what we call the operational stage of their mission here is a quick recap of that moment we're about to launch the International Space Station for this incredible Mission this is a delineation everything before was training and preparation and now we're in operation ax2 represents a major step for us our last mission was three individuals who flew and did remarkable research on orbit now we have a combination of individual in a country that's going to fly with us I mean this is what we're all about this is the Global Outreach that this company has we're making history here they are the ax2 crew wow we are really really excited Sun here today I think it's so important that you're here because without you and all your contributions all your hard work your dedication we wouldn't be up here ready for space flight and we are just continue to celebrate this moment one of the things that we did we did a scan of the right foot of each of these astronauts an homage to the Apollo program and the images that you see from the first one to the Moon there is a plaque [Applause] [Music] [Applause] this is only the first class of Saudi astronauts back home so we're just looking for more and more to join that little voice inside you is real listen to it my father used to share with me a part of a poet uh he likes it says he who fears to put my Mountains will forever live among pits I would say to everyone just find your Mountain keep climbing it's not going to be an easy ride you might stumble and fall but always have the the passion and the thoughts of what it's gonna feel like once you are on top of the mountain and looking down I'm sure it's gonna be an amazing view and experience [Applause] Zone you're capable capable much more than you might believe so try things that you think you might not succeed at because you'll find out that you really are much more capable one more battle [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] what an amazing tradition that you guys have started I love that it's so great to see that that Axiom family specifically come together and support this crew get to get their big finals send off for all that preparation they've been doing now we are just moments away from seeing the crew for the first time today this is a live view outside of our Falcon support building located suit donning and checkouts are complete standby for walkout or on schedule all right almost perfectly on cue there that was the SpaceX core uh calling out on our countdown Nets to let the integrated teams know that uh all of our crew members are in their suits they went through the appropriate uh checks and fit ups and we should be seeing them walk out these doors any minute now I love the Serendipity of that moment that's going to be the rest of the day right everything's right on cue yeah I like it uh this is certainly a big moment for them that that moment at Axiom where we have this stepping to space send-off is is a big one going from that training to operational phase but this might be the next big one the next big step for their mission now we have seen the crew in their suits um you know in the days leading up to launch we had a dress rehearsal a couple days ago I guess that was Friday um and so we've seen the crew walk through and rehearse all of this but this will be the first time that we're seeing them on the day they get to go to space have to imagine it feels completely different but I also think maybe their training has made this sort of normal they're they're in the mode they have the muscle memory at this point something's familiar but some things have to also be a little heightened today absolutely now there we can see the three Teslas that will take them up a short distance it's a little bit less than a half mile from those doors to the elevator doors at the base of pad 39a we will see Commander Peggy Whitson and pilot John schoffner together in one of those black Teslas while the mission specialist Ali al-karni and rayana barnawi will be partnered in another so like we said it's a short drive they could walk it but I've done that walk it's not great especially uh you know it's pretty warm in Florida already and a little humid so we want to keep everybody cool and comfortable so they're going to hop in these vehicles and head up the crew is beginning their walkout to drive to the pad at this time it sounds like we should be seeing our ax2 crew any moment now coming through those double doors that you see on your screen now because we uh here in this location we are inside the blast area so no family or media are allowed here but certainly an emotionally significant moment and we're aha and here they are our ax2 crew this is very exciting this is our first live look at the X2 crew suited up for their mission to the International Space Station on your far left you see Rihanna Barney followed by Peggy Whitson then John schoffner then Ali al-karni wow incredible got a great great group wave there the team unifying for their first big big step before they get in those Teslas to ride to their vehicle I love this view that we have here inside the vehicles we actually get to really get an up close look at the excitement on their faces right now they are of course gonna Buckle in and they're also going to plug in the umbilicals the umbilicals that flow cool nitrox nitrogen oxygen mixture air into the suit so it helps keep them comfortable as they are making that short distance up to the pad right because as you said they are in Florida it can be a little warm and a little humid there so any way to make this crew comfortable uh is going to be better it's going to help them be in the right mindset and appreciate this moment and see those golden doors are closing now I do love this camera view it reminds me of like a auto karaoke or taxi karaoke whatever that was and that reminds me they do have a special playlist that I think they're they're playing right now for their short drive don't think we'll get to it it looks like fist bumps and maybe some dancing to the music as well yeah that's our commander Peggy Whitson on the far left and pilot uh John schoffner there uh to her left our right right center I guess you should say and then Mission Specialists uh Ali al-karni and Rihanna Barney on the right hand side what a great moment there where you saw each each pair of crew members sort of grasping hands doing fist bumps to kind of having their another level of realization for this step in their missions it's just it's so wonderful to see that love to see the teamwork too this is a very special moment for Peggy but thinking about her she actually had her first mission to space on sts-11 which launched from this very pad 39a on June 5th 2002. just shy of 21 years ago she would have been transported out on this very stretch of road and ridden the same set of elevators to reach the Space Shuttle Endeavor now today just everything else is is basically new the the suits the rocket obviously all of those things are new but it's pretty fascinating to think of this throwback and actually here's a photo of then rookie astronaut Peggy Whitson wow I love that incredible there she is in the white room and actually as this crew rides out to their rocket their Commander Peggy Whitson wanted to share a special message with them and to each of you who have helped make today possible as I get ready for space flight I want to say thank you to everyone who's contributed I know there's so many of you out there that are helping to make each and every piece come together the engineers that design things the welders that put things together the instructors that teach me how to operate this really very complex piece of hardware and how it's all integrated together by all the software engineers and then we have a ground team that's helping us and we have ground teams all over the world that are helping us be successful on our missions and every one of you does a tremendous job to make space flight possible thank you thank you thank you what a fantastic message from piggy Whitson from sts-111 to ax2 what a career what phenomenal set of achievements you know I remember the day excuse me that Axiom announced that she would be commanding this Mission and um it it wasn't such an incredible moment because she really is one of the legend Legends of NASA and I was just so excited to see that she was going to be flying in a SpaceX dragon so what an exciting opportunity absolutely once again those live views coming to us from inside the Teslas as the crew members of ax2 are pulling up to their rocket they're now getting closer and closer uh to pad 39a where Falcon 9 and our Dragon Freedom capsule a wait to take them to the International Space Station now fun fact about the pad here those elevator doors excuse me that we see here at the base of the fixed service structure these this the core of this structure is original to the pad from the shuttle and Apollo days so it is safe to say that when Peggy ascends one of these elevators that in her shuttle days she was using the same you know arrived at the pad there's that call out just uh letting everybody know on countdown that the crew has arrived to the PAD as we can see we have Peggy Whitson and John schoffner they've exited their vehicles first this is one of my favorite moments that we have during the launch sequences right there it is the lean back and uh you know they have to though like the vehicle stand so tall there on top of the launch mount we'll probably say this throughout the broadcast but they've seen the rocket before they've been in it for dry dress it's got to look different on today this day of launch another fun fact about those elevators the uh the the levels of the fixed service structure are not marked by the level number that it is it's the height in feet that they are ascending to so uh the ax2 crew is going up to the 255 foot level uh and they will ride up and that then after they exit will take a short 10-foot uh stairs up to the next level the difference being is that basically the difference in height between the shuttle access arm and the Falcon 9 access arm beautiful view there of the back side of the transporter erector that is the structure that we use for integration of the vehicle as well as transportation of the integrated vehicle to the launch pad and of course we roll it up horizontally and then lift it to the vertical launch position um you know within depending on the mission days or hours prior to liftoff there you see Ali and Rihanna doing an excellent lean back for that view you can see the excitement hands clapping I mentioned before they have rehearsed this previously in our dry dress rehearsal on Friday they suited up they rode out to the pad they got in the spacecraft so they they have technically done all of this once before because you know in space flight we love to rehearse and practice everything and really like the the moment of for them to look up and realize that these are their last steps on Earth for a few days must be such an incredible moment you know the day that they actually get to go to space it's a moment that they've all trained uh for a very very long time for absolutely so exciting you see now at the in your screen that's uh Peggy and John I believe they're using the phone to make their their phone calls before launch their last calls now for those of you looking at the view here and wondering what those arrows are for excuse me those arrows point the direction towards safety in the event that the crew needs to leave the area quickly they just look down and they're able to follow those Chevrons over to the Escape pods basically they are baskets on a zip line that allow them to leave the tower if necessary but it's a little counterintuitive because they're walking opposite of the arrows which of course makes sense because they're going to space not away Rihanna and Ali have gotten to the top of the stairs so they will have their turn to use the phone for their last calls that's a pretty cool view there we see them uh they're just in the fixed service structure Tower not yet going across the crew access arm that access arm of course is what connects the tower to the launch vehicle we should be able to get a really great view of them as they go down the access arm but looks like everybody's enjoying the view as they should be yeah and as they await their opportunity to make their final phone call speaking of paths you know this is the last section of their path before they Ingress the vehicle but Ali and rayon actually reported last August to Houston to start training and these This Crew has 700 to a thousand hours of training total by the time they start their operational phase of the mission no easy task now the folks that are addressed in the all black bodysuits those are members of the SpaceX suit and closeout teams so these are the SpaceX member employees that will be assisting the crew through their egress and suit leak checks for fod which is foreign object debris something that we want to avoid at all costs in the space flight industry we make sure that everyone all the you know the Personnel in this part of the phase are preventing fod and that is why we see them dressed in those those bunny suits like we do coming down the arm now you see here's Commander Peggy Whitson and pilot John schoffner taking a nice look at their rocket through the window there you know it's incredible you know to see someone like Peggy that has been to space so much one of the most decorated NASA astronauts ever um to still be so excited it's really heartwarming we see here now that Peggy Whitson and John schoffner have now arrived to the white room this is a great shot of where they will get to actually right on the wall they're gonna add their signature to um are are basically wall of fame room everyone that flies on a dragon mission has the opportunity to add their signature we could see them adding their signature there to the black SpaceX logo joining the names of the Axiom one crew as well as the inspiration 4 crew as I understand that Sharpie is part of the the protocol you have to have that Sharpie at the ready because it's a really special moment for the crew absolutely we can see the crew members excuse me the closeout members that are assisting the crew with their Ingress process we can see that they're holding tablets that is where they are tracking and following along with our electronic procedures which we call eprocs and those eprocs list out every single step that each person has to carry out in order to enable a successful liftoff uh and of course we have an instantaneous liftoff window today as we are going to the International Space Station so it's really important to keep tabs on who's doing what and how much time we have left in each activity we do build in margin into the schedule so that if one thing takes a couple minutes longer it you know it's okay we we build in a little bit of flexibility there but those tablets allow the crew to follow along and one of those steps in the eprocs for the advanced team which is the team of SpaceX employees that arrive there to the pad to in advance of the crew to prepare for arrival one of those things is to make sure that there is a Sharpie in the white room we can see there one of the closeout SpaceX closeout crew team members assisting core on countdown and aggress started we want to make sure that nobody bumps the helmet or the side hatch as they enter the vehicle we can now see pilot John schoffner on in the seat on the left and Commander Peggy Whitson in the seat on the right the seats that they are sitting in utilize a five-point safety harness so it's a little bit more advanced than the seat belt that we have in our automobiles here on Earth if John and Peggy in the vehicle fun little note about John schoffner he's going to be the first Alaskan to fly to space he was born in Fairbanks Alaska I've spent a lot of time there from my biology background and it's an extreme environment so just being from Alaska I feel like is training enough to prepare for space Alaska is cold space is cold they go together foreign we can see there our mission specialist Rihanna barnawi and Ali al-karni still finishing up the final steps before walking down the crew access arm they are working with the SpaceX closeout team members to do the final checks and of course some waves now entering that crew access arm and making their way down to Dragon freedom smiles and waves all right thumbs up from the KSA Mission specialist Rihanna barnawi and Ali al-karni as they enter the white room and likely go straight to signing that SpaceX logo next to the ax1 crew and joining their crewmate signatures it's really incredible for this new era of space travel to be forming where we're going to have Sovereign Nation representation on that signature wall it's just really exciting to see the evolution and change of things here as we grow commercial space flight absolutely space for all yeah you mentioned this closeout crew it's really as Peggy said in that send-off video too it's it's really phenomenal to think about the size of these teams and every pair of hands that gets put on these Mission preparations and to make this crew perform their mission successfully it's incredible to think about all those people involved it's just it it's as though they're not traveling just for themselves or even their countries but like you said it's space for all they're traveling for all of humanity once again we can see the tablets being utilized for the closeout team members to follow along with the procedures step by step they are also marking off when a step is completed and essentially just keeping track of what is remaining what open work remains we can see here they're going through and doing the final zip UPS of the clubs you know for Comfort reasons excuse me for comfort reasons we don't make them do final suit up um you know I should say final final suit up with all the zippers and whatnot so that they can still be comfortable as they're riding up and making their phone calls and this is the final check to ensure that everything is locked in place with those zippers and fasteners we can see now that pilot John schoffner on the left and Commander Peggy Whitson on the right are in their seats getting those final strap in with that seat belt we can see that they have tablets on their legs which allow them to also follow along with the same procedures step by step and there goes Ali al-karni ingressing the vehicle with some words of encouragement from his crewnate crewmate rayana barnali and as she initiates her Ingress they're stepping through this side hatch it's important to note that they won't go through this side hatch again until they're back on earth when they are ingressing and egressing the International Space Station we actually use the forward hatch located at the top of the Dragon spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station so the next time that they go through this side hatch will be when they are done and they are on a recovery vessel in either the gulf or Atlantic Ocean okay we're getting our first looks of our full crew seated inside the dragon on the far left you have rayana barnawi followed by John schoffner Peggy Whitson and Ali al-karni Mission Specialists sitting on the far left and the far right pilot John shaftner on the left in the middle and Peggy Whitson commander on that right middle seat great side by side shot of the rocket Dragon capsule on the left crew on the right we can see there in addition to the tablets that the crew uses to follow along with everything that's going on they also I just love this view this is a coming a to us from our drone that is circling pad 39a you can really appreciate one what a beautiful day to go to space I love it whenever we can see this Coastline come into view but yeah just a beautiful padshot of of 39a of course this is where um you know many of the shuttle missions launched from but this is also the Apollo 11 launch site as well so it's amazing to see this new era of space flight continuing from a site that is so historic and carries a lot of good memories for many people as you mentioned before Peggy Whitson having flown from this pad herself on a shuttle mission so I I just think that's so amazing that we're able to continue space flight from such an important piece of ground absolutely and in thinking about all of the science that's going to be performed on this ax2 Mission it made me look at the calendar and actually see that space lab was launched from this same pad 50 years ago to this year so 1973 and that was of course a huge Progressive step in doing scientific research in space so we have this really cool full circle moment where we're initiating a big step in commercial space flight that's really going to progress the research that's done in low earth orbit tying it back to the same pad where Peggy launched and even before that were Skylab one of our influential science components of space exploration was launched from as well really cool history like you're saying this here an exterior view of the crew access arm and dragon freedom well today we are carrying four people to the space station dragon can actually seat up to seven the additional three crew members would be located basically under where the four seats that we use as we see today in lieu of cargo so underneath the astronauts as we see now there is actually cargo located underneath them within that cargo will be things that they use like food and water as well as the clothes that they will get to change into once they are able to take off or doff their spacesuits once they reach orbit they'll be able to take off the spacesuits and change into other clothes and basically it's sleep in that while they make their way to the International Space Station and we can see here the the tablets that they have that they follow along with the procedures on the left leg but on the right leg we see another rectangular shape that is the connection point for the umbilical and that is where the um basically the interfaces for flowing again some more of that cooled nitrox which is a nitrogen oxygen mixture that air gets flowed into the suits to help keep them comfortable it's the same stuff that scuba divers use in their in their breathing tanks the umbilical is also what connects the electrical and communication and avionics so that's how we basically get Telemetry to and from the suit and in addition to those communication packages now the seats they are sitting in are custom sized for each astronaut so if you think of the human body and some people might have longer legs and shorter torsos and vice versa where they might have longer torsos and shorter legs I thought we were going to get some Communications there sounds like we had some in capsule audio so that's good to hear starting to come through but yeah all the the the length of the seat that they are sitting in as well as the length of the foot rest and the length of the armrest are all sized appropriately for each astronaut so really helps to make sure that they stay comfortable as well as safe through all phases of of the mission their spacesuits are also custom sized and they actually come here to Hawthorne not only for hours and hours of training on procedures and operations but they also come on site here to try on the suits and make sure that everything is fitting well make sure that as they go through you know the Motions of executing uh you know something while they're on orbit making sure that everything is super comfortable and nothing is is rubbing in the wrong places since the beginning of the Space Race in the 1960s a custom patch has been used to represent and identify individual missions and their crew there's also a long-held custom that the crew influence or outright design their own patch injecting it with symbolism and personal elements to commemorate their Journey This Crew has continued this long-standing tradition with their official ax2 mission patch take a look the ax2 mission patch highlights the beauty of space hope for the future and the important role of the ISS to unite the best aspects of humanity shown prominently are the mission name ax2 the family names of the crew members and the flags of the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia the two Nations represented on board today's flight there are five shapes drawn as constellations these represent the crew's intention to focus on inspiration education and teaching through Steam education initiatives and so there's a constellation for science technology engineering arts and math the arch the arched path leading from the Earth to space is colored lavender which culture is a culture is significant in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia symbolizing hospitality that arched path and color also reflect ksa's desire to be part of the space sector and position itself as a contributor to the global space community then naturally the space station is Central to the image as the destination of This Crew while Earth is featured with prominent Horizon Lines symbolizing optimism hope and inspiration just as you see this Mission patch worn by the crew on their flight suits this patch is currently adorning the walls of Axiom space's Mission Control in Houston and is placed in a position of Honor everywhere This Crew is being supported for the duration of their mission we can see live views there inside of Dragon freedom now this capsule that they are flying in is a reused capsule it has been to space before additionally Falcon 9 is also a reusable vehicle it's the world's first orbital class reusable rocket and while today marks the first flight for this rocket it will be the second flight for the dragon spacecraft reusability is a big deal not just for us at SpaceX but also for the future of space flight we're using Hardware similar to how Airlines reuse aircraft allows us to refly the most expensive parts of the rocket which of course in turn drives down the cost of space access imagine if you had to fly on a brand new airplane every time you took a flight most people would not be able to afford that plane ticket in the same way a fully and rapidly reusable launch system is the key to becoming a multi-planetary species to date SpaceX has completed 39 Dragon missions including 36 visits to the International Space Station and 18 of those 36 missions have actually been on reflown dragons which is pretty awesome as you've heard me mentioned before the Dragon capsule flying today named Freedom will be making its second trip to space it previously supported the NASA crew 4 Mission in April 2022 so just over a year ago now as for our launch vehicle the Falcon 9 rocket has completed 224 total launches and 70 percent of those have been on reflown Rockets the booster supporting today's Mission will be lifting off for the first time as you might be able to tell by the fact that that first age is shiny and white uh the way that I often uh you know tell people is if the paint matches the second stage it's a new rocket well speaking of Firsts today marks the first time that we're Landing Falcon 9 back on land for a crew mission previous crew missions landed on a drone ship uh out in the Atlantic Ocean so we actually see a live view now of lz1 that is the intended Landing destination for the booster today Landing back on land has a lot of benefits it eliminates the need for our recovery team to be stationed out at sea for days and improves our turnaround time to get Falcon 9 ready to fly again so um I also personally Love The Landings because the Space Coast can actually see and hear the booster return to lz1 so super exciting it's just under two hours 36 minutes to the launch of Axiom 2. as you've seen the four-person crew is in the dragon spacecraft we're preparing for the first of a series of communication checks these checks will be with the SpaceX core and they verify the crew Connections in Dragon through an umbilical that remains hook up to the capsule until liftoff as I said the comp checks are going to be with core that's a member of the Dragon Ops Team and that operation seam is located here in the mission control center at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne California the Falcon 9 and Dragon launch teams are located in firing room 4 at Kennedy Space Center our next activities for the crew once we get through that initial set of comp checks we're going to be watching the seat rotation into the launch position we've also got a suit leak check for several minutes make sure everything is buttoned up and tight and then we also have additional Communications checks these will be through RF antennas and NASA's tracking and data relay system or you may hear it referred to as tdrs Tris for short and those will become checks with the dragon team now currently the flight Hardware Falcon 9 and Dragon launch teams continue to monitor the vehicles we're not working any significant issues at this time We are continuing to just watch the weather it's Florida it's late afternoon uh ground level continues to look good winds are low and we've got nice looking Skies there on the camera view on the left we are watching upper altitude winds in case some of the anvil clouds do drift over the launch site or the SN trajectory in the last hour now for upper altitude winds SpaceX uses a Doppler radar to study wind direction and speed that allows the SpaceX structures and control Engineers to calculate loads on the vehicle and verify that we're good to fly the space force range releases balloons for us and that gets low altitude wind data that supports dragons contingency launch commit criteria right now T minus two hours and 34 minutes everything continues to look good next up we're waiting for comp checks we see the crew right there make sure that their connections through the seats through the umbilical are good it'll talk to the core and then we'll take it from there with the remaining series of checkouts of comms seat rotation and the suit leak checks a minute ago we saw that live view of Landings Island there's the crew waves all around the SpaceX support team is backing out of the capsule right now as we get ready for comp checks bigger thing is we'll then go into seat rotation so we want to make sure everybody's out of the way clear the seats make sure everything underneath the seats are all stowed for flight and ready to go we talked about Landing Zone one I showed you a live view a few minutes ago we're hoping to get a nice view of the first stage when it comes back to Earth about eight and a half minutes after launch we ought to see that coming back down into that Landing Zone one View right now just waiting for the word from the crew that they're ready to begin the communications checks coming up on two hours 32 minutes to Launch on the Falcon 9 side currently the chief engineer is mostly just going around the room checking with the SpaceX Falcon engineers they're continuing to top off gas pressure in the helium Supply that's used to repressurize first and second stages as we head to space the attitude control system uh gas supplies The Landing Lake supplies we're at pressure we just top it off a little bit as we continue through the countdown other than that nothing significant on the Falcon 9 right now everybody's mostly just looking over the data watching their systems our next major activity on Falcon 9 will actually occur at about T minus one hour and 10 minutes that's when we're going to begin to bleed in the feel into the Merlin engine Chambers actually into the jacket which used to cool the nozzles as we head out into space so that'll be our next major activity we have also done flight termination system checkouts uh a couple hours ago everything looks good there and the view you can see right now at 39a Falcon 9 fairly quiet at the moment Dragon also having the more activity as the crew has ingressed and right now we're getting ready to begin checks between dragon and the ground we're now T minus two hours 30 minutes and 42 seconds until liftoff of Axiom 2 heading through the International Space Station we have a t0 time of 5 37 PM Eastern Time 2 37 PM Pacific time as John mentioned and as you can see on screen weather's cooperating at the moment we can see the exterior of the capsule there there's actually a great shot because not only can you see the uh the service section which is where the crew is you can also see another great view of the trunk this is where we are able to put unpressurized capsule excuse me unpressurized cargo and that trunk will is the part that will be jettisoned before the crew actually return to Earth great view coming to us from our helicopter circling the pad you can also see below the trunk the white second stage below that the black inner stage where we have the the grid fins attached and then below that the white uh first stage we are standing by for communications checks with the crew so it will be a series of checks to ensure that all seats are able to communicate with the teams both at the launch control center in Florida as well as here in Mission Control in Hawthorne California after we get through comchecks we will perform leak checks on the suits that's important just to ensure that all of those zippers on the suits and the Fasteners are all in the uh you know in their final position their night closed and we pressurized this suit in order to uh basically test that it can hold that pressure over a period of time in the event of an egress scenario or excuse me not egress of a launch Escape scenario after um you know lift off the the spacesuit actually functions as a mini spaceship within the spaceship it's able to hold that pressure while the crew returned to Earth once those suit leak checks are complete the closeout team will then close the side hatch as I mentioned before the side Hatches the the door that they use to go in and out of the capsule while they are on Earth the hatch that they use while they are on station is actually the forward hatch which is located under the nose cone which you can you can distinguish there at the very top of the Dragon capsule the pointy part that has that diagonal line that indicates where the nose cone is and that will rotate back it'll open up and expose the forward hatch and that's what the Dragon capsule uses to autonomously dock with the International Space Station so once that side hatch is closed by the closeout team here on the ground [Music] check from seat two loud and clear Peggy from SpaceX help me we have you loud and clear so it sounds like these contracts all right good afternoon please let us know when you get to step one decimal three and are ready for umbilical comp checks Soco and SpaceX Dragon we're at step one decimal three ready for a concept SpaceX copies stand by for umbilical contracts great view of the Axiom 2 crew there as we are standing by for those Comm checks foreign Commander pilot ms-1 MS2 Comcheck Commander has you loud and clear pilot and clear and assume wasn't clear and core loud and clear umbilical Comcheck complete please report when ready for seat rotation all right all good news there all those comchecks uh checked out and we are now SpaceX Dragon we are ready to seat rotation [Music] SpaceX copies will report when initiating as the name indicates these seats are going to rotate back into the launch position this will enable the crew to have easier access to those crew displays located above their heads Dragon SpaceX initiating seat rotation happens we can see those seats now rotating back into the launch position on the left this moment must feel like that moment on a roller coaster when you're in you're in the position to go we are at T minus featuring the launch position hey calm there confirming that the seat rotation has been completed we are at T minus two hours and 22 minutes and six seconds from liftoff of the ax2 mission from Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying four Axiom astronauts Peggy Whitson John schoffner Ali Al Carney and Rihanna barnawi aboard the crew Dragon spacecraft it's been a very exciting day so far the crew shifted their sleep cycle to match that of the International Space Station and our currently inside Dragon going through their pre-launch checklists as of now the astronauts have already completed their comms checks and that helps to make sure that they can communicate with the teams on the ground their seats have rotated from upright to their reclined launch position which allows them to see and access the display panels there above their head up next will be the leak checks to make sure their spacesuits are in proper working condition before liftoff and to do final inspection of the spacecraft so at this point in time we're gonna stand by a wait for those suit checks we expect them to happen here in the next couple of minutes after those are complete the closeout team will be closing the side hatch for flight that's one of the key Dragon SpaceX your go for section 2 suitley check preparation hahaha once the suit leak checks are complete and the closeout team closes the side hatch for flight it will be things will start moving a lot quicker um the opportunity for go going back and and rechecking everything is still we're able to do that before the side hatch closes so that's why we wait to get through the com checks the suit leak checks the seat rotation we we wait to close the side hatch until all of those are complete so that in the event that for example if a zipper isn't quite in place one of the closeout team members can re-enter the capsule help the crew member get that into place and re-perform the the suit leak check or you know whatever it might be now after we get that side hatch closed the closeout team will depart the pad and then around T minus one hour and 30 minutes we'll do launch Escape system checks and then we fast forward to T minus 42 minutes and things that really start happening in Rapid succession [Music] Dragon copies and concurs you are go for section three suit leak check got to go for section three two eight check all right so that communication back and forth there between Commander Peggy Whitson and SpaceX core or crew operations and resource engineer on that console today is Arthur barriolt that is the primary voice that we will be hearing communicating to the crew members back and forth just confirming that the crew is ready to go to March into that next step which as they said would be the suit leak checks essentially we inflate the suits to a certain pressure for a couple of minutes and we monitor that pressure level during that time to basically ensure and check that we're not losing any pressure if we see a pressure loss that's an indication that something isn't quite fitting right maybe there's a little bit of faud in the visor so it's not closing completely or the zipper might not be zipped up completely so one of the closeout team members will go in and help resolve whatever is causing that and then they in that case would re-perform the suit leak check but when we did a dress rehearsal on Friday we got to this step and they they breezed right through it yeah so you can actually kind of see um the the crew there just resting pretty comfortably while these leak checks are are under underway so suit leak checks are now underway or just holding that pressure and monitoring that pressure level in all four suits to ensure that there's no leakage for those of you that have just recently joined us we have Mission specialist rayana abarnawi on the left the far left seat that is seat number four and seat number three is pilot John schoffner next to him uh Commander Peggy Whitson and then on the far right in seat number one Ali al-karni we can see the SpaceX closeout team they're preparing for the side hatch closure but like I said we won't complete that until we have confirmation of four good suit leak checks now the area that we see here the white room is an environment is environmentally controlled that helps to ensure that you know Florida insects humidity nothing none of that gets into the capsule that we're able to maintain a clean environment see them inspecting with the light you really want to go over that again we see four good suits SpaceX copies and concurs four good suits at this time closeout team perform final steps in preparation for side hatch closure proceed to section four side hatch close and Report when ready to close hatch uh we'll go for dragon all right good news there we have four good suit leak checks closeout team now preparing to close the side hatch do because you mentioned yeah they are really inspecting that side hatch to ensure that we get a good seal there very similar to the suit leak checks that we just performed we will do a leak check on that side hatch where we inflate the seal around the hatch again to a certain pressure for a certain amount of time we monitor that pressure for any Decay or pressure loss and um and SpaceX Dragon we are ready for the closeout team to close the hatch SpaceX copies I think that's a very polite way of saying it's time for them to go so we can go to space foreign as I mentioned before the primary voice that we hear communicating with the crew is the SpaceX core which stands for crew operations resource engineer that person on Console while it's not the same individual um through all phases of flight but that that seat is there and as it is filled by different individuals throughout the mission uh and that is the primary communication to the crew that person is responsible for updating them on statuses and confirming with the crew that they are ready to proceed to The Next Step as we've been hearing them that back and forth this morning I should say this afternoon now at this point once we get the side hatch closed we can see that there's still a closeout team member there under their feet kind of in that cargo location it's kind of hard to visualize but if you want to compare it between the view on the left and The View on that right on the right hand side that closeout team member Dragon SpaceX Comcheck overground stations [Music] [Applause] core loud and clear ground station contact complete standby for tdrs contract we should be just a few minutes from side hatch closing and until then we still have a good view of the crew in the capsule with one of the closeout crew members in the lower part of the screen there see them working on their tablets that the crew has they each have one nice view of the Dragon capsule on your left and some great weather out there we can see that final closeout crew member foreign making the last preparations and now popping out so there they have now egressed and are back in that white room as I was saying before it's kind of hard to visualize if you've never been inside the Dragon capsule you know kind of the orientation of where the Viewpoint is to the right imagine that the crew tablet that we see Peggy and John referencing and working off of is kind of around where those two dots are on the left hand side of your screen those those two dots on the exterior of the Dragon capsule you can kind of imagine if you were to draw a line between those two dots that's roughly where the crew display panels are and then the crew are essentially laying on their backs or kind of on their backs not completely but they're laying on their backs underneath that so when we saw that close out team member there in under their feet if you imagine somebody kind of working in the area SpaceX comtrek over tedris dragon has the loud and clear over cheated core loud and clear teachers come check complete standby for context with DC MD and LD in the launch configuration this is DC on countdown one Comcheck BP we have your loud and clear DC loud and clear standby for comchecks with MD Dragon MD on countdown one Comcheck MD we have you loud and clear on countdown one MD loud and clear standby for Comcheck over dragon and ground Dragon MD on Dragon the ground Comcheck MB on Dragon to ground we have you loud and clear MD loud and clear standby for contracts with LD Dragon LD on countdown one comp check we have you loud and clear on countdown one lb ldt line clearer as well stand by from a comp check over Dragon to ground Dragon LD Dragon to ground one Comcheck we have you loud and clear lb LD also has you loud and clear Dragon SpaceX launch configuration contracts complete dragon's happy thank you foreign checks and uh I want to point out for those that might be tuning in for the first time or might not be familiar with the structure of those com checks that they are actually important they do mean something um so when we hear for example um we heard uh dragon MD on countdown one um that is in a structure basically saying hey who they are calling so the mission director or MD was hailing the Dragon capsule so they say dragon MD then to identify who is hailing them and then on the countdown that in which they are and then the the communication net that um the loop that they are speaking from and uh that's important whenever you have multiple loops and you want to know who's talking where so in that instance we heard yeah the mission director who for today is Ken gamerek SpaceX Mission director uh basically you know continuing with those communication checks and once we have all of those wrapped up we will be able to continue on and that the next step would basically be to perform close the side hatch and perform that leak check that we were talking about a little bit ago now we can see those closeout team members there as they are standing by for the go to close the side hatch as we saw earlier they were inspecting the side hatch very carefully for any foreign object debris which in the Aerospace world is known as fod fod and we can see them there just doing their final team checks you can see the crew there on the right hand side of your screen following along with the procedures they do not have games on their tablet so that's a question I've uh sometimes get the the tablets as well as the crew display above John and Peggy's head allows the crew to stay informed on what is currently happening as well as what will be upcoming so as we said before we're we should be wrapping up those communication checks and then we will get the go to proceed with side hatch closure now the other thing that we heard during those contracts uh was uh somebody saying loud and clear that is also an important structure to responding you could have communication that is loud but garbled alternatively you could have communication that is soft but uh clear and or crisp in the ear and we want everybody to be able to hear it so that's why you hear them say loud and clear because that's basically confirming the volume as well as the crispness of the audio that is being received now in the event that something was not loud and clear we would be able to tweak it perhaps the volume levels on the ground side and and how they're being fed into the astronaut's ears as they do have basically ear you know custom fit ear buds in their ears for those communication purposes awesome collapse and waves I have a feeling the closeout team is saying goodbye to the crew foreign Dragon SpaceX closeout team is taking final steps in preparation for side hatch closure standby for transition to pad hatch closed ensure all items are secure from now through launch copy uh closeout scenes performing the final actions we have secured all items prior to launch and we're ready for the flight computer transition so great news there as we suspected the closeout team saying farewell and fair with Fair wishes to the Axiom 2 crew they're now getting ready to close the side hatch once again this room is environmentally controlled so it helps keep out humidity insects which would be considered fo which would be considered fod and ultimately just help keep that environment clean we're now progressing with the side hat closure they're going to torque it shut they will now attach equipment that will allow them to inflate the seal to pressurize excuse me pressurize the seal around the side hatch and as we mentioned before very similar to the suit leak checks that are performed that the the seal will be inflated to a pressure that will be monitored over a few minutes and basically monitoring to ensure that there is no loss of pressure or also known as pressure decay and if we did see a loss in pressure during this leak check it would be an indication that Dragon SpaceX closeout team has secured the side hatch and has started the side hatch leak check for four decimal three sagging copies will follow along [Applause] so if we were to see a pressure loss during the Sleep check it would be an indication that something with the seal isn't sitting quite right in which case the closeout team would be able to reopen the hatch wipe it down inspect it of course whenever we are helping the crew or rather the reason that we help the um the the reason we help the crew get into or Ingress the capsule is not only to help make sure that they don't injure themselves or they don't enter their suit it's also to ensure that they don't accidentally bump that side hatch during that Ingress process we want to make sure that that everything is able to really keep that seal for that reason we actually put protective fixturing that is removed right before the side hatch closure we put that protective fixture there to help ensure that that side hatch is covered during Ingress so the leak check is now underway as I said before we're going to hold this pressure for a couple of minutes and just monitor it for any pressure loss for those of you that have just recently joined we are now just under two hours until liftoff of Axiom 2. it will be heading to the International Space Station we have a targeted t0 time of 5 37 PM Eastern Time 2 37 p.m Pacific weather continues to look really really great almost picture perfect I would say over the last 24 hours we did see an improvement in our weather conditions so something called the POV or uh percentage of violation which is basically our chances of violating one of the weather rules that exist and we have to follow for that liftoff time and that percentage decrease to only 25 so everything's still continuing to look good on in terms of and on time that that liftoff targeting 5 37 PM Eastern thank you so we are now undergoing the leak check of the side hatch this side hatch will remain closed until the crew splashes down in 10 days from now weather dependent we can see there inside the white room as the closeout team is performing that leak check this is such a great view because I we saw the astronauts add their signatures to the wall there earlier as they right before they got into the crew Dragon this was a tradition that SpaceX started with the demo 2 mission NASA astronauts Bob benkin and Doug Hurley were the first to add their signatures to the white white room wall and of course the Axiom 2 crew got to add their signatures along with the axiom1 signatures and inspiration 4. they're along the the x that we see on the right hand side it's great to think about the representation and all those signatures too you have of course all those NASA astronauts and various countries that are involved in that space program and now with that SpaceX logo and the private astronauts that are going up and now the Sovereign Nation companies are sovereign Nations that will be joining for private launches like today with Axiom it's really cool to see that diversity and that breadth of representation absolutely as I mentioned before we are operating to a a countdown today that countdown helps ensure that all the teams are are tracking to the same milestones for that t0 time we are running with plenty of margin at this point in time we are now awaiting the results of the site hack excuse me the side hatch leak check of course we build margin into the timeline to allow us to re-perform steps that might need to be done so at this point in time we've just been flying through all the Milestones so we are tracking with uh great uh great margin at this point okay well while we wait for results on that we're going to go ahead and look at the crew a little bit more deeply all right the ax2 mission Commander is Axiom space director of human flight space flight and retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson during the next 10 days she'll extend her record as the American with the most amount of time spent in space here is a closer look at Peggy [Music] I saw the first guys walk on the Moon Neil and Buzz in 1969. I was nine years old and I thought what a cool job of course that was Farm kid from Iowa how are we how was I ever going to do that I didn't tell anybody from the time I was nine raising chickens and learning to fly and all that I wasn't telling people that I wanted to become an astronaut because it sounded like an Impossible Dream and it wasn't until the first females were selected and I graduated from high school and that to me was when I decided hey maybe this is real maybe I really can be an astronaut and it became a goal instead of just a dream Peggy Whitson became the first female commander of the International Space Station she also set records in these categories most days in space for a U.S astronaut and more hour spacewalk than any other woman she understands what humans taste like really means when you approach it with that awe and respect and humility it's like you're you're doing it justice the experience of just being in space is incredibly special and unique but to me the the most important perspective is perspective you look out the window you see planet Earth and it gives you this perspective of how important that we all want and we're building this place out in space to replicate the peace parts that we have on Earth I'm really excited to take this crew up to the space station number one because they're all rookies and this is going to be fun to just relive those first moments with them as they get into space and and get to see their excitement and their expressions and joy ax2 means there's a 2.0 her career and now she gets to help a wonderful comforting to take that next step in its Mission uh her Congeniality and her manner extremely comforting and it gave me the confidence that I could do this he is inspiring personally I look up to her and I want to be like her I don't know I love everything about Peggy she's my role model I'm Axiom astronaut Peggy Whitson the pilot for ax2 is private Astronaut John schoffner a steam Advocate business Pioneer and lifelong space Enthusiast he's been a pilot since the age of 17 and participates in extreme sports from hang gliding to base jumping to High Performance Racing let's get to know a little bit more about Jon um well they're fun they help you find your Edge you know I would say limit but we don't really want to find the limit you want to find the edge I think John is a human Dynamo Direction but that's just the way he is you know it's over and above I was probably the the outlier in the group I was always striking out and the one climbing trees and on roofs and setting things setting things on fire I grew up near an airport I had access to airplanes I started flying when I was 15. got my license shortly when I was eligible it was just something I did in the early 60s actually 1963 when Jim and I began flying it was big news it's easy for an eight-year-old at that time to fall in love with space that was our fun cardboard boxes rolling down Hills emulating space training Gemini Pilots so space just became part of the fabric of me and it never left that I heard about a private astronaut travel before a little bit of research pulled up Axiom axial space and their mission well my wife brought it to my attention she saw the news article of Axiom flying and said hey you can finally go to space and the moment I heard about this opportunity I knew I would be on board he's on a mission to encourage young minds to use their imagination and from there he says possibilities are endless I'm taking a patch for the Middlesboro independent school systems this is their middle school who this year last year actually decided to become a stem certified school what I want to do is show teachers and Educators the value of listening and paying attention to what is in a student and helping nurture what they see in them it's hard to go against your nature but if you can listen to yourself and follow that voice then if you have an obligation to nurture them I'm John schoffner and I'm the pilot of ax2 [Music] representing the Saudi space commission and serving asserting representing Saudi space commission and serving as Mission specialist Ali al-karni is an Air Force captain in the Royal Saudi Air Force we'll be commencing health check for launch Escape system expect a momentary flight computer State change followed by a transition back to pad hatch closed and Dragons having trained at King Faisal Air Academy as well as multiple bases in the U.S Ali has flown as a fighter pilot for 12 years Ali was selected as an astronaut in 2020. here's more on Ali I grew up in the southwest region of Saudi Arabia in a very small town called subtilalaya I've always wondered about planes and how they fly back then in Saudi Arabia we did not have a lot of places or a flying academies you could apply to so I have to go and find a place that could train me that's why I applied for the Air Force Academy to be a fighter pilot the best moments for me is once I hit the throttles in full a b and the aircraft start rolling down the runway I take off I watch my shadow and see how fast I'm going that gave me a joy that I cannot describe I am Alia Carney and I am Mission specialist one on ax2 being selected to be part of this Mission make me privileged and honored to represent my country I was really surprised about the results out of the announcement people are loving it people are super supportive of the mission I consider myself a newly married I've been married for three years now and I've had my daughter she's a 12 months old and I want to share with them how big it is what I'm about to do it is an amazing opportunity to be on top of a rocket filled with with fuel and gas that are going to boost you to space [Music] the team is amazing we have worked so much to make sure we have a good crew coherence and right now I can say that we do complement each other every single one of us has been trained to do everything regarding this Mission I would like to thank our team space for enabling us to go back to space and giving us this opportunity I have an amazing family they are supportive of me throughout my career and I want them to know before I step into the rocket that I love them and I will always be there whether physically or mentally with them and I'll do whatever it takes to make them feel happy and loved thank you representing the Saudi space commission and also serving as Mission specialist Rihanna Barney has a master's degree in biomedical Sciences from alphaisal University in Riyadh Saudi Arabia and a bachelor's degree in biomedical Sciences from otago University in Dunedin New Zealand here's a closer look at Rihanna World Saudi Arabia will be sending its first ever female astronaut into space [Music] I was always into exploring new things research was one of the things that fulfilled that feeling for me trying to experiment finding a piece of the puzzle that could solve a mystery I never thought that I will ever be going to space but at the same time it feels like a dream come true it's an overwhelming feeling of course [Music] home for me is a small town my dad had a little farm he taught us how to plant that was one of the first experiments that was one of the most fascinating Fields my grandmother to me she is my role model I can't say that my grandma is my biggest fan and I'm very glad that I have my grandma's support Saudi Arabia will be sending its first woman astronaut to the International Space Station rayana barnawi a biomedical researcher is part of a private Mission operated by Axiom space Rihanna she is an amazing scientist she's done stem cell research and breast cancer research and we are really excited to have her on board the space station doing some of the same types of things in space it honestly feels like I am representing all saudi's ambition or female and all researchers as well it's a big honor to be able to go to space and at the same time do the things that you love the most it's not just that you have a nation that's proud of you but you are creating the dream and the opportunity for this next Generation to become the next space engineers and creating the idea that the infinite is possible and that space is a true opportunity see my guys [Music] [Music] we're now at T minus one hour 42 minutes and 55 seconds until liftoff of ax2 we have confirmation that the side hatch was closed and we got a good leak check so everything is continuing to progress on time great and as operations continue we want to provide an overview of some of the science and research activities planned for the ax2 mission to help us unpack the breadth of Axiom manage payloads is one who has helped every principal investigation team prepare for this Mission our very own Chief scientist Dr Lucy Lowe she's at Kennedy Space Center in Florida with Axiom space director of digital strategy Sonia gavonkar McKay Sonya great to see you and we're excited to understand what's ahead in the next couple of weeks for our crew thanks so much Duke it's great to be here with all of you as the excitement really builds toward launch we're just a few miles away in fact you may be able to see the Falcon 9 rocket with the ax2 crew on board just over my shoulder and yes I'm joined with Axiom space Chief scientist for microgravity research Dr Lucy low Lucy how excited are you for what's to come hi Sonia I mean it's a fantastically exciting Mission there is an absolute massive amount of research that the crew is going to be doing and I can't wait to see them get started and there is a massive amount of research they have to do and we have just a little bit of time to cover it so let's Dive Right In it is packed for it but what has been the scientific strategy for this Mission and what do we expect to see so the scientific strategy is really continuing what we did on ax1 which is expanding access to microgravity for a whole new Global community of researchers so we're really excited to welcome onboard our Saudi Arabian partners and see them do the research they want to do we also have some opportunities to expand commercial opportunities by manufacturing products in space that could be beneficial for life here on Earth so we have a glut of projects that are going to be doing all kinds of stuff about in-space manufacturing so we're really excited about those now you've organized the portfolio into five main categories and we're going to kind of touch on each one of them very briefly let's start with physical sciences I noticed that from the list there is radiation protection research as well as some storm related research that is looking at how weather and climate and seeding clouds tell me what this all means exactly so we have a really fun experiment that's brought from us from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia looking at cloud seeding so they're looking at how silver iodide crystals can actually form water vapor in a specially designed chamber so they're not only understanding how cloud seeding could be more effective here on Earth but they're also looking with a vision to perhaps extraterrestrial agriculture so maybe growing crops on the moon and in Mars in future wow we also have projects looking at radiation shielding so the sun spits out a bunch of radiation so looking at how different kinds of polymers could actually protect the electronics on the space station could actually help with future spacecraft design and then finally you mentioned storms we have some really fun projects where the crew are actually going to be trying to capture images of what we call transient luminous effects okay which are events which occur just above thunderstorms at the same time that lightning strikes and we can't see them from the ground because we're underneath the clouds right so on top of the clouds we can see these phenomena and it helps us understand more about our own weather and climate down here on Earth excellent so the next portfolio is life sciences research includes DNA nanomaterials and reprogramming skin cells to help create regenerative medicine there's also research planned to build on ax1 science modeling tumor organoids to better predict and treat cancers can you break down a few of those for us and tell me again what we can expect to see what the astronauts will be doing up in space yeah absolutely so as I refer to some of those in-space manufacturing projects so the DNA inspired nanomaterial that you refer to could actually be used as a therapeutic Delivery Agent in future or as a scaffolding for degenerating joints we have also projects looking at 3 3D bioprinted tissues so looking at liver and kidney and seeing how they respond in microgravity which could be potentially very informative for helping us understand regenerative medicine efforts and then we have a whole other project on stem cell manufacturing which could actually then help with lots of kind of clinical applications here on Earth so lots of research on that end not even to mention all of the human research that our crew are very willing participants in where they're doing all kinds of experiments to see how the human body responds to space how it adapts to microgravity and how we can use that knowledge not only to make space travel more safe for humans in future but also help us understand our own physiology back here on Earth a little bit better okay on to Tech the research being conducted here seems to be how can we automate more to take up less time doing things like data transfer we know about that on Earth what's it like up in space making Communications with Earth easier and literally tracking where supplies and materials are on board I mean they have a lot of space up there inside the building right so they have to be able to track where everything is loose bolts and and whatnot what stands out to you in this research so it's interesting you mentioned how much space there is up there because there's fairly limited space so we have some they can't exactly so we have some Axiom technology demonstrations where we're demoing some of our own technologies that we can use on Axiom station in future but we also have some really fun technology demonstrations from our partners that are sampling the air inside the ISS they're using special sensors called quartz crystal micro balances that can detect tiny molecules in the air and tell us a bit about the air quality inside the ISS wow and then we have a really fun project from the MIT media lab where they're looking at what they call a gravity countermeasures loading suit or a skin suit which actually models some of the effects of gravity on our crew and so it helps them prevent some of the physical deconditioning that astronauts see when they go into space really important research absolutely what do you think the error is like up there I think it I hear it smells of electronical equipment oh okay so we'll wait for those little cubes to tell us a little bit more exactly okay Partnerships also very important with vaccine space since it started and it's really great to hear about all of this research that's really coming from so many institutions educational organizations Lucy how are you seeing the commercial opportunities evolve and what's the goal for us long term yeah absolutely great question so we continue to expand our Partnerships with a number of Global Research communities which is really exciting seeing really exciting research come in from new communities new organizations new researchers that have historically not had access to microgravity and now we can provide that but as I said we're also very interested in opening up these new commercial economic opportunities to do things in space that can create materials or biomedical products that can benefit life here on Earth because that's ultimately what we want to do at Axiom is everything we do in space we want to be benefiting every human everywhere which includes not just the astronauts but all of us back down here as well well thank you so much Lucy for all your time we're going to be talking to you during the mission as well to find out a little bit more about what's been transpiring up in space what we expect to see down here and so much more will come our way thank you so much Lucy your time thank you Sonya well that is amazing groundbreaking work that we're going to be seeing the additional insights of these studies and so much you can follow the efforts as they play out on orbit just visit us at axiomspace.com ax2 research we're going to send you back now to Hawthorne to Duke and Kate thanks so much guys thank you Sonia and thank you Dr Lowe well Switching gears a bit Axiom space is also working to create Partnerships with companies that you wouldn't typically expect to hear about going to space some of those companies end up with some represent representation on board a mission as well besides the crew the dragon is also carrying hundreds of kilograms of supplies and resources for the mission most of these materials are essential as supplies but every Mission has a few fun surprises one of those is off one of those that's often discussed is the highly anticipated microgravity indicator this is actually the only item inside dragon that isn't secured at launch once the crew successfully reached orbit the microgravity indicator will begin to float allowing all of us to visually see what we've completed during the launch phase of the mission and to reveal the indicator a fifth crew member named Gigi here is a very special greeting from Sharon John and a few of the younger Axiom family members who helped prepare the indicator for this flight [Music] Aaron John and president we're incredibly thrilled to be a part of the ax2 mission to space thank you so much for this incredible opportunity we also wanted to be sure and wish good luck to all of the Brave wonderful crew members that are headed off to space and hope that an extra fifth furry crew member brings you luck with that in mind we wanted to also send you off with a very special heart ceremony as some of you may know we have heart ceremonies at Build-A-Bear Workshops but we've created a really special one for today so what we're going to do guys is we're going to do a special heart ceremony so what you're going to do is you guys are going to warm up your hearts like this or rub them to get them nice and warm then you guys are going to Pat those hearts to get them started Pat Pat Pat rub it on your hands so they can steer the spaceship and stay on course then you guys are going to rub it on your ear so they can hear Mission Control loud and clear and rub it on your eyes so they have the best view of Earth so let's have a safe and successful Mission let's put the heart in our hands hold it really tight close your eyes and make a great big wish for them then you guys are going to give it a really big kiss good job guys [Music] lots of love let's see it all right thank you so much we'll be thinking about all these Hearts when we get to space and our little Bear is floating okay [Music] wow that was unbearably cute if I do say so myself we actually have a replica of the microgravity indicator on board with us here this is a special edition Axiom space Build-A-Bear just like the one you saw in the video Gigi is wearing the ax emu spacesuit that NASA's next generation of moonwalkers will use during the Artemis 3 mission which will land the next humans on the moon in 2025. using Innovative Technologies in a flexible design these spacesuits will enable more exploration of the lunar surface than ever before speaking of Artemis 3 and these lunar missions SpaceX is playing a significant role in that mission as well that's right we are incredibly honored to be a part of NASA's Artemis program to establish a sustainable presence on the moon to prepare for Missions to Mars SpaceX will conduct an uncrewed demonstration mission to the Moon with our new starship vehicle prior to the Artemis 3 mission marking Humanity's first return to the lunar service in more than 50 years starship's early flight tests followed by regular starlink deployment missions and propellant transfer demonstrations are also directly advancing NASA's Artemis program along with spacex's ongoing mission to make life multi-planetary a big thanks to Sharon John and Build-A-Bear for their support in our mission we're all really excited to see Gigi floating around inside the dragon in the next couple hours to learn more about Gigi and all the exciting efforts on this Mission visit axiomspace.com we're just over 90 minutes away is the Axiom 2 crew awaits at 5 37 p.m Eastern Time liftoff from 39a at Kennedy Space Center right now quick status update the crews inside the capsule the side hatch is closed as of about 30 minutes ago leak checks are complete we've also had completion of comp checks between both dragon and Falcon ground teams with the crew looking at weather right now the weather continues to be good for launch and any contingencies if needed local pad weather continues to be that 25 percent probability of violation will just watch over the last hour and a half if we get any clouds drifting over from inland conditions in the Atlantic are also good should we need a contingency Landing somewhere along the Eastern seaboard Falcon 9 team will begin bleed in at T minus one hour and 10 minute Mark of the Merlin engines and the latest update we've heard from the SpaceX team out at 39a the support crew is leaving the crew access arm with the hatch closed all their work is finished so right now everything is on schedule at T-minus one hour 30 minutes and 28 seconds and with our crew safely inside Dragon freedom and continuing their preparation for launch let's head back over to Sonia gavonkar McKay at Kennedy Space Center for a conversation with a member of the Saudi space Commission Sonia this is an exciting moment for many around the world but what does this mission mean for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that's a great question Duke our work with KSA and men and any partner begins just years before the launch date we started talking with KSA about four years ago and like any commercial partnership there are a lot of details to work out and that's especially true with the U.S commercial company signing with a direct agreement with a foreign Nation once you get through the negotiation process you and get to the actual signing of contracts which took place in 2022 then you have to get to work planning preparing training for the mission not only are these Partnerships beneficial for Axiom space and our goals of building history and expanding access to low earth orbit but for all but we're enabling Nations like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia organizations and individuals to achieve their goals in space joining me now from the Saudi commission Saudi space commission to share how this Mission and our Partnerships are so critical to their Ambitions beyond Earth we are joined now with just the perfect person to talk to you thanks so much for joining me here today Ibrahim let's start let's start with the Ambitions of the Kingdom what what brought you to this moment of course like I'd say like you know on the personal side I'm space Enthusiast and I know like there are so many space enthusiasts in Saudi and we're so excited like to be here and this is the first uh mission of the Saudi astronauts Corp and this program started uh to begin and it will be a sustainable program right right but why now why take this big leap right now well there's always a lifetime for um for something this is like a huge thing space is becoming like more evolved now and this is the right time for space and we see like so many nations are joining the space uh of race and Saudi has been there 38 years ago actually with the Prince Sultan uh being the first Arab and first Muslim to go to space and we're continuing this uh work in going with the first female uh it's such it's such a momentous moment we talked about the first steps we talked about the evolution long term what are the goals for SSC so the National Space strategy so aims to have the kingdom to be um a key player in the space sector this is just the beginning this is just a first program and this only looks at the sector of the human space flight and we see this Mission as a stepping stone a stepping stone that will continue to take prisons uh in space and what what does the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have That's Unique that you bring to the table um I think you could know lacroianas like for for today she's unique uh becoming the first uh Muslim and Arab to go to the ISS and also first it's actually going to be the sixth country to have uh two um from the same national uh astronauts in the state so this is like we said the first step it's an exciting step how do you feel right now oh I feel I can't really explain my feeling I don't think that I have enough Force to express my feeling um we're looking at the countdown we're so excited we've been waiting for this moment for a long time we're so excited we're so happy uh we're tuning in uh to watch the launch um we can't wait to see them in orbit and you spent a lot of time in Houston with us right through all of the training you've been there you've kind of been training with these astronauts in the same way do you feel like you're part of the cruise support system you know to be honest I wanted to be in the cargo actually um yeah I really wanted to go with them I feel like I am with them in the journey um I enjoyed like every moment this is the most exciting moment of course I can't wait to see them in orbit and I can't wait to see them back again and I'm gonna feel uh like I'm in space with them but without the zero gravity of course that's right well it's been a pleasure to work with you and you're an entire team I I know that you've your entire Kingdom of Saudi Arabia feels like you're going along with this Mission as everybody looks upward to the skies for this Mission you do feel like you're part of the crew going along so thank you for being such a wonderful partner with us and we we won all stowaway too so we'll we'll figure out a way for maybe the next time you we go we go on another mission together I really appreciate it thank you I'll be ready you'll be ready you are you are thank you so much Ibrahim thank you this is an exciting time for so much of us here we're so grateful that for this partnership and so many things that we're going to achieve today together naturally today we are focused on the launch of ax2 and the mission celebrating the beginning of their eight day Mission but it is interesting on how much of this Mission serves its own chapter in the development of expanding opportunities in low earth orbit This Crew is benefiting from prior missions including ax1 as a way of passing the Baton to This Crew here and marking it as that special moment here are just a few words from Michael Lopez Alegria Larry Connor Mark pathy and Eton stebe of the crew of ax1 take a look together with you the whole Ikea team are counting down the days the hours the seconds towards your launch the excitement is building as you are leading the way for more diverse explorers in space may this journey Inspire your families and people is the focused numberless other world wonders but none more wonderful than men the impact of your mission will cross borders and contribute to a much better world because there is no dream Beyond reach good luck Godspeed ax2 hi this is Mark pathy Mission specialist from X1 and I'm sending out my warmest greetings to the crew of X2 as you count down the final days before your big launch uh Peggy and John I'm super excited for both of you I know you've been waiting a while for this and maybe a little bit jealous too but I hope you have a great Mission and Ali and Riana although we haven't met I've heard of you guys are a great addition to the team please take good care of my friends up there and look forward to seeing all of you on your side godspeed eggs dude I am honored to have the opportunity to speak to all of you the crew of ax2 you are about to embark on an extraordinary experience I wish I could join you I know it's been a great deal of work and effort but you shall be rewarded good luck and Godspeed John Ali Ray and of course dear Peg you guys must be getting very excited it's getting real by now you're either already or about to be strapped in comchecks probably a little chit chat with each other but most of all the excitement is building and I just want to give you a little preview that when the number of digits on the clock goes from four down to three so ten zero zero to nine fifty nine starts to get pretty real when it goes from three down to two one zero zero to 59 seconds even more so and you can imagine when it gets below 10 seconds what it's going to feel like so enjoy the ride enjoy the sensation of floating definitely enjoy the view and from the crew of ax1 we wish the four of you got speed it's absolutely incredible to be part of this rapidly growing effort and Industry every Mission points to the next and I hope you feel the energy and anticipation like we can here on the Space Coast do Kate this really never gets old I say that this is my first time at a launch what's the energy like out at Mission Control at SpaceX uh it's absolutely incredible and I think you're right it will never get old this is just really a fantastic day for ax2 and how great to hear that message from ax1 as words of encouragement well as we've mentioned this is privately funded Mission and so what that means is that the origins and primary funding for this Mission are coming from places other than National Space agencies so it's not a governmental government-driven effort which is unique Axiom space is pioneering Partnerships between us a commercial entity directly with Nations other than the United States which may sound like a simple thing but these kinds of Partnerships especially for the purpose of space exploration are really covering new ground we are so proud to be partnering with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for this Mission and while we view this relationship with them as a partnership they are also our customer NASA is another customer in this process they'll actually be paying for some of Commander Peggy whitson's time while she's on board station to conduct specific science that's of importance to them so we're very proud to help meet the high demand for space and research science and research in space while pioneering the expansion of commercial space flight in addition to the first of their kind Partnerships that Duke just mentioned we also have a strong and growing partnership SpaceX and Axiom space in the space flight business a purely commercial entity paying another purely commercial entity to fly humans to space has been mostly unheard of but our hope is that it will it will become more and more common SpaceX is proud to continue growing our Partnerships with Axiom space NASA and other commercial companies who can put our services to good use for the benefit of humanity for the ax1 mission we introduced a series of digital Collectibles and the response to those were really outstanding so for this Mission Axiom space will continue to push the boundaries of web 3 by partnering with several well-known digital artists and Brands to celebrate the continued growth of the commercial space environment Axiom Space 3 is our program that combines the promise of space exploration with the power of web 3 blockchain technology this is a token Gated Community Network which allows members to engage with astronauts space technology professionals and web3 entrepreneurs for this Mission we'll kick things off by launching a brand new digital art collection by Art blocks artist Nadia Bremer an astronomer data visualization designer and artist this new art blocks collection will feature a 448 for 484 piece algorithmically generated collection that showcases imaginary maps of the stars with unique constellations to make this collection even more unique the digital art will actually be initiated from onboard the ISS by ax2 Commander Peggy Whitson additionally Additionally the ax2 digital art collection will feature works by thank you X an American Artist out of Los Angeles California thank you X is sending up a piece of his physical art canvas to space titled urge for Perfection he will also be releasing a commemorative nft which will celebrate this Mission and the canvas going to space this nft will be available for purchase right at launch and the sale will close by Splashdown these collaborations with digital artists and Brands bring a new level of creativity and inclusivity to commercial space Industries like ours for more on this and all of our Digital Collection collectible activities visit nft.axiomspace.com there you can also find more instructions on how to get involved and buy your boarding pass to participate in all of the ax2 activities well the most visible visible part of axiom's work today is these missions to the International Space Station these are just the Leading Edge of one aspect to the preparation for our real goal operating a completely commercial space station and laboratory in low earth orbit these missions serve as an opportunity to learn and prepare for how to handle Logistics maintenance schedules routines crew volume and every other aspect of space missions the roadmap that Axiom space has created points to some major Milestones to evolve our presence in space they include deploying our own habitation modules and docking them to the front of the International Space Station deploying our own solar panel and Earth Observatory elements overseeing long duration space flights of six months or more that lead to a permanent presence of commercial activities off planet developing spacesuits and other Necessary Technology to live and work in space and eventually breaking away from the International Space Station to be 100 independent as a commercial space station while the launch of the first ever commercial space station module is still a couple years from launch the process of Designing and now manufacturing have been underway since 2015. here is a bit more objects for Falcon 9 status update go for Falcon 9 status the F9 team is going to take this action to vent the manifold for the pre-brief Falcon 9 status this will be a loud venting so we do expect that you will hear it in the vehicle they'll be taking that commanding shortly but just giving you a heads up you will hear this venting okay Kathy venting the manifold and we expect to hear it thanks all right so that was SpaceX core Arthur and that was a SpaceX core Arthur barriolt just letting the crew know to expect loud venting noise again that is the primary voice of communication to the crew to update them on status as well as items like this where uh they are um they can expect to hear something good heads up for the crew there so talking about Axiom space station here's a bit more on the current status currently under construction [Music] we are building the world's first commercial space station one element at a time we think that what we're doing is for everyone everywhere this is a global Endeavor our partner in Italy is in the finishing stages of building the first module the first pressure vessel we are here in the integration and manufacturing area of Italian space yeah we have the the two cons that will will be part of the module is also the gate to the modular to come in and to come out the very big cylinder that will be the core of the module just to have an idea of the dimension of the real module you can see me compared with the structure on this report all the additional modules will be docked this is the most complex piece of the entire Axiom module [Applause] one place to build a human rated spaceship faster than images ever built one when we look at our roadmap we look to see how we can double its capability every five years it requires a lot of different talents and a lot of different engineering backgrounds so we've really expanded the team I'm working on the time sensitive Network aspect of the space station so that's the network have all the flight computers synchronized and actually Thruster firing at the perfect time so this is the command trailer we're able to control our test stand which enables us to vary our set pressures or flow rates into the Thruster in order to collect performance data at various ofs and chamber pressure conditions it's always a blast to come out here set everything up and start lighting rockets off [Music] behind us we have the carbon dioxide removal sub-assembly we're going to be creating the most uh integrated ecosystem that has ever been put into space thus far which is a really cool thing to be able to say I fabricate PC boards and cables and harnessing this is a life critical job and you want to make sure you do the best possible job 15 to 20 years from now we're going to be surrounded by objects that we can't imagine how we live without that we're manufactured in space I think there's another promise too and that's why I'm really excited about the X2 crew there is this effect that people have gone to space and had this is called the overview effect many people have come back profoundly changed because of their experience and I think the more people that we can have that see the world as the whole world the better off we all are thank you it's incredible to see how much these missions are able to impact the future of Axiom station and private astronaut missions there's so much more underway that we can't show you just yet but circling back to the here and now it's missions like today's that pave the way that's right around the corner well ax2 will spend less than two weeks in Space the value it adds to our Discovery and planning process feels like it's years of experience we're excited for these short duration missions and even more excited to be able to get into long duration missions as we begin to bring Axiom station online but before we get there we still have at least two more flights to go ax3 and ax4 we aren't quite ready yet to talk about the details of dates and crew members but in the same way we're launching KSA astronauts today we have also signed agreements with the nations of turkey to fly some of their National astronauts and other nations and it will and as it was previously announced we will be flying a member of the Italian air force on an upcoming Mission as well between these new Sovereign Nations and the private citizens who now have a way to partake in the Marvel of living and working in space we are truly working to expand access to low earth orbit for all and that's not even counting the opportunities to help NASA Issa and jaxa find ways to expand their efforts in low earth orbit it's all super exciting news and progress for the future of human space flight we're really looking forward to successful completion of this Mission as well as the two that are yet to come now for right at the moment let's check in with John I for another status update just over 70 minutes away as the Axiom 2 crew awaits its 5 37 PM Eastern Time liftoff from launch pad 39a at Kennedy Space Center you've got a view right now with the crew access arm the seals along dragon have actually been deflated you can see a little bit of a gap between the capsule and the arm the SpaceX team has left the tower they're getting out of the hazard area so everything continues to go on time as we've got the crew in the capsule with all activities complete to date currently weather you can see the blue skies in the area some clouds around there we haven't had any updates that indicate things are better or worse than when we started the webcast we're still at about a 25 probability of violation but everything continues to look good we do watch the upper altitude clouds as we get later and later into the afternoon it's at the higher altitudes where the wind actually could carry some anvil clouds back over the pad in the essent corridor in that case we've got to worry about things like lightning but right now the flight path downrange continues to be good for launch but we're going to have to watch that until we get all the way down to t0 now as you can see it's still daylight obviously at Kennedy Space Center folks in the local area are going to have a good view but unlike a night launch where people all up and down the Eastern Seaboard of the United States can see the vehicle you're going to have to be in the local area to watch Falcon 9 with dragon take off you see right now is looking down from on top of the service structure at the top of the crew access arm the Dragon capsule with the solar rays then below that is the Falcon 9 and you can see just a little bit of the transporter erector the arms actually that will open up around the second stage as we get down into the last four minutes of the countdown another view Falcon 9 with dragon on pad 39a we've been listening in the Falcon 9 team the dragon team they are on schedule reporting no significant issues everything continuing to look good and one update that'll be a little different on this flight the first stage will be coming back to what we call a land Landing or return to launch site and so we'll continue to cover that is the second stage with dragon heads into orbit one difference you're going to see this time is given the trajectory of Falcon 9 when we carry astronauts to space we can come back now to The Landing site uh just down from Kennedy Space Center but what that means is we're going to have a slightly different sequence of burns we'll do the Boost back burn with three engines as is traditional coming back to land the entry burn as we get to the atmosphere Fringe that's a single engine it's a fairly short burn we don't have to slow down much but when we land we're going to light three engines right now T minus one hour seven minutes 25 seconds and counting everything is go for an on-time launch a big thanks to all of you tuning in now as we welcome NASA and their coverage of the second Axiom Mission ax2 you're joining us here with live views from NASA's Kennedy Space Center specifically this is the iconic launch complex 39a with a Falcon 9 rocket and dragon spacecraft that are in the final stages of preparation leading to launch in just over an hour from now as the name suggests this is the second flight for Axiom space with a handful of noteworthy firsts this 10-day Mission will see the first female commander of a private space mission Legend and former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson our pilot John schoffner will soon become the first Alaskan astronaut and two national astronauts will be the first from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to fly to the International Space Station Ali al-karni and Rihanna barnawi taken together as a crew this is the first private Mission with private astronauts and astronauts representing non-us Nations through Direct commercial arrangements and that's just to name a few my name is my name is Duke Brady and I'm a multimedia specialist at Axiom space based out of Houston Texas and I'm Kate Tice quality systems engineering manager here at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne California and as duke just mentioned our coverage has now expanded to NASA Television and we would like to welcome NASA's Leah Cheshire from Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas hey Leah hey Kate great to see you and Duke and I'm excited to join as we get closer to launch so thank you so much for having me I am here in Mission Control Houston where the orbit 3 team is coming on and taking over from the orbit 2 Shift these teams are monitoring the station and its crew 24 7. and of course in here today we'll be watching the launch with the International Space Station flying 260 miles over the Southwest coast of Ireland at the time of liftoff but we've still got some counting down to do before then so back to you guys at SpaceX thanks Leah now liftoff time is still holding for 5 37 p.m eastern time and we're tracking no issues with Falcon 9 or Dragon the range is green and the weather is cooperating as we saw earlier uh really Picture Perfect views coming to us from Kennedy Space Center as you can see there now over the last three hours Axiom astronauts Peggy Whitson John shofner Ali alcarney and rayana barnawi Don their SpaceX suits in our suit up room and were then transported to the pad where our crew entered the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that you see there live on your screen and since arriving at that spacecraft our crew were helped by the closeout Engineers to get into their seats attach their suits to special umbilicals that provide breathing air and communication links to Dragon systems they conducted successful leak checks and Communications checks with the corps here in Hawthorne which is the person dedicated to speaking directly to the crew throughout the mission the closeout team sealed the hatch which also got its own leak check and they have Departed the pad coming up weather operators kick off their final check on wind speeds at the pad before the final go no-go for launch now before we get to that final go no go the SpaceX team will do an internal poll making sure conditions are steady with Falcon 9 Dragon the crew the range and weather a lot of things needed to line up there absolutely now as the countdown continues we are now approaching T minus one hour three minutes and 15 seconds let's take a moment to get reacquainted with our crew today the ax2 mission Commander is Axiom space's director of human space flight and retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson during her career with NASA Peggy flew three long-duration missions to the ISS and has more cumulative time and space 665 days than any U.S astronaut and more than any woman in the world she has conducted 10 spacewalks with over 60 hours to her credit cycling orbit tank isolation valves to equalize low flow pressure Dragon copy and that was the voice of Peggy Whitson who also performed hundreds of hours of research hundreds of research experiments on board the ISS the pilot for ax2 is private Astronaut John schoffner a steam Advocate business Pioneer and lifelong space Enthusiast he's been a pilot since the age of 17 and participates in extreme sports from hang gliding to base jumping to High Performance Racing sounds like a busy guy John trained as the ax1 backup pilot and during this Mission plans to invest a lot of his time in Steam education activities aimed at empowering educators and representing the Saudi space commission and serving as Mission specialist Ali al-karni is an Air Force captain in the Royal Saudi Air Force Ali graduated with a bachelor of Aerospace science degree in 2013 from King Faisal Air Academy in Riyadh Saudi Arabia having flown as a fighter pilot for 12 years Ali was selected as an astronaut in 2020. also representing the Saudi space commission and serving as a mission specialist Rihanna barnawi has a master's degree in biomedical Sciences from alphaisal University in Riyadh Saudi Arabia and a bachelor's degree in biomedical Sciences from otago University in Dunedin New Zealand she has been a research lab technician since 2013 in the stem cell and tissue re-engineering program at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center you've seen the vehicle you've met the crew let's send you over now to NASA's Johnson Space Center where Leah Cheshire is following the launch preparations from Mission Control in Houston Leah thanks Duke you're right I'm here in the International Space Station flight control room at Johnson where teams staff this room around the clock to monitor the crew and the systems aboard the orbiting laboratory today they're ensuring that the station is ready to receive dragon and the ax2 crew since NASA opened up the space station for commercial activity in 2019 the agency has continued to work with Private Industry to prepare for the future of low earth orbit NASA's long-term goal is to no longer be the provider of a low earth orbit destination but to be a customer one of many purchasing commercially owned and operated services to ensure the path of tomorrow we have to work together today enabling private astronaut missions on board the space station helps us to refine and mature the processes needed for the future with NASA astronauts working side by side with private and National astronauts in a new age of Science and Discovery and we take this next step together as we continue counting down to the ax2 crew launch to the International Space Station as as you can see it's an incredibly busy time in low earth orbit and Beyond and with that let's connect with NASA public affairs officer Megan Cruz at Kennedy Space Center you know Leo we love our launch days here at Kennedy Space Center and we love it when we can witness them with NASA administrator Bill Nelson administrator great to have you here it's always a pleasure so as Leah said it's been a busy exciting three years here at Kennedy uh since 2020 we've launched seven uh crude missions to the ISS but we've also paved the way for private missions like axiom1 last year and today ax2 so I want to ask you how are NASA and the general public benefiting from these private missions well we go in a public private partnership and we go with a fixed price contract and because it's a public-private partnership the the private partner is putting skin in the game or in other words investing so that at the end of the day the cost to the federal government is less and that's the way we're going back to the moon and then on to Mars and we do it also differently is we're going on an international mission and so as we have announced the first crew to go to back to the Moon in a half century uh it has a Canadian astronaut that's part of the crew and I think also what's great is that we're opening a low earth orbit to new partners as you are saying so you know we uh hope to or we will continue to use the space station through 2030 and then after that the agency will transition to as you know commercially owned stations so how is that transition going what's the latest on that well the goal is we want to bring space business off of the earth up into low earth orbit and to do that we NASA want to concentrate our efforts going on further into the cosmos and so we want to bring in our public-private partnership to encourage them to do low earth orbit and therefore when we're through with the space station in 2030 and it will be pretty old by that time it's time to move on to commercial space stations we can still what we NASA need to do in low earth orbit by utilizing the commercial stations and we've given seed money to four companies to build commercial space stations in low earth orbit and one of those is Axiom space Axiom is going to start their Venture by the way not only of getting accustomed to taking private astronauts into space as this mission is it also is helping us with our International Partnerships because we have two Saudis on this trip but it also will have its first component of its space station and it's going to dock to the International Space Station so a lot of exciting things as we keep saying in in the years ahead so I do want to talk to you about you know you've been alluding to the Artemis program the fact that working with these commercial companies to continue access to low earth orbit it allows us to think farther so yeah talk to us about some of the international Partnerships that uh that are helping the Artemis program well we have some 15 partners that have if not built or certainly participating in the International Space Station and this of course is a huge structure 120 yards long you think from one goal post to the other goal posts in a football stadium that's how big it is uh and uh they are very much uh you're seeing the results of that public-private partnership here another example is look at the phenomenal success of SpaceX as a means of getting to and from the space station so when we shut down the space shuttle a dozen years ago now we rely on a private company to go to the International Space Station in this case it's SpaceX in July it will be Boeing as well any words to the ax2 crew today well first of all I wish I were with you and secondly godspeed to all of you awesome thank you so much administrator and I hope you enjoyed today's lunch thanks and so again we were talking a little bit about the Artemis program did you know that NASA and Axiom space are also working together to design the suits our astronauts will wear when they land on the moon in the next few years here's a sneak peek at what those suits will look like yeah this is a prototype of what astronauts will wear when they land on the moon for Artemis 3. while this prototype is black with blue and orange detailing the real moonwalking suits will be white to reflect heat and keep astronauts safe from extreme temperatures NASA selected Axiom space to design develop and certify the suits they will fit a broad range of crew members men and women accommodating at least 90 percent of the U.S population the moon suits worn by Apollo 11 astronauts in 1969 had a bulky life support system the new Axiom extra vehicular Mobility units or ax emu's will have range of motion and flexibility needed to explore the lunar South Pole they will give astronauts the capability to access live and work on the moon future versions could even have avionics astronauts will start training with the spacesuits later this year that's a look at your Artemis Moon minute [Music] while the International Space Station has been a valuable asset for space research and exploration the rise of commercial space flight is opening new doors those benefiting from the new opportunities range from small commercial entities all the way to National Space agencies this expansion of participation in space is enabling a more diverse and inclusive space industry with a much wider range of perspectives ideas and expertise additionally the competitive nature of commercial activities means the cost of participating is falling and there are more participants to share those costs and the risks expanding access to space Also promotes Innovation and scientific and technological progress benefiting Humanity as a whole for a long time the conversation has been about someday having private space flights and someday we'll have private astronauts well there's a lot a lot of room to grow from that that someday is now low earth orbit is more accessible than ever before as space research and Technology enter a new era companies like Axiom space are expanding this access and young space agencies like the Saudi space Commission Now have a path to achieve their goals in low earth orbit at Kennedy Space Center is Axiom space's director of digital strategy Sonia gavonkar McKay and with her is a member of the Saudi space commission to talk about their goals for this Mission Sonia thanks so much Duke as you mentioned I'm joined by Ahmed al-ghafali of the Saudi space commission but also Axiom space's Chief Revenue officer tejpal Bhatia and I'm going to jump right in here because we're so close to launch time this is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's second flight into space the first was in 1985 on the sts-51g what does this mission mean for the nation and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia I believe that the kingdom has gone a long way since 1985. so many satellites have been launched ever since so many payloads have been developed ever since lots of research were conducted related to space payloads conducts a lot of components that we've done that could be used for space and other sectors so uh that's a long way since since that time and here we are today just an hour away from this historical mission that will carry two Saudi astronauts for the first time to the International Space Station however I do believe that it's not only Saudi that has gone a long way I looked at so many research and so many Financial forecasts that suggest that within the past 20 years 60 of the investment in space only happened within the past two or three years so there is a momentum and we want to be a part of it that's wonderful your efforts with KSA and the efforts that Axiom space puts into this Mission allow for a vision for so much in low earth aerobic what can Axiom space really do to help Nations like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and so many others achieve their goals thanks Sonia when I think about what we're doing with the Kingdom from the first time I met Ahmed my definition of the word partner has fundamentally changed and evolved from when this was an idea and started formulating as a mission to execution we had to overcome a lot of challenges and these are things that are being done for the first time in human history and what I've seen in our relationship is that definition of partnership to overcome those problems and make these things a reality are enormous and what is happening in this situation is while we are enabling the kingdom to get to the International Space Station the kingdom is enabling us to see our vision of providing access to all nations in the world and increasing the Cadence of astronauts from every nation to go up into low earth orbit that's wonderful this astronaut program is new for the kingdom how has this process evolved through this year are you seeing that it's exponentially growing like the infrastructure is of course of course I mean when we started this program about a year ago with this collaboration with Axiom the first thing that we started is for the process of the selection which is one of the main and major Milestones to achieve any successful program like that so we built our program for a selection based on the best practices that we developed together based on the benchmarks from from NASA for instance however that's only a part of it then comes to if you want to build a program you want to make sure that all the enablers are in place especially when it comes to the infrastructure and also for the right people with the right competencies to be able to run such a complex program so we've been building for the past year utilizing this project as as a vehicle to train to get those people with the right competencies not only to do the training for the astronaut core but also you want to even for the media for the finance for the legal for the r d for the integration all of it is a part of this secret recipe to to get a successful program and this is only the start so we're gonna keep building and enhancing this program till we get to the to the point that is optimal excellent we have only about one minute left what's it like working with individuals versus Nations what's the difference in that relationship like for Axiom space yeah so you know trying to compare uh private astronaut with a national astronaut is like asking me to compare my children luckily I only have one child so I'm prepared to do this uh let's start with what's the same uh each of these individuals on this mission right now are pioneers very few people in human history have been to the International Space Station today we're going to see three more join and each individual represents their country and humanity and they're going to inspire girls and boys all over the world today and moving forward the big difference is with the kingdom seeing this more as a program right you know when we were inspired as kids I'll speak about myself coming here with my parents or seeing the shuttle program it was a long time before it became a reality and what we're going to see with the kingdom is is happening more and more as we go forward and as they say the sky is the limit for this Partnerships the opportunities for Nations individuals to grow together thank you to both of you for joining me and we're getting so close to lunch so I'll let you get back to it as we toss it back to Hawthorne where I'm sure you're feeling the anticipation it's getting so exciting out there what does it feel like to you and I know John I is out there as well thank you Sonya and yes it's a time where the energy is increasing especially we're inside of 47 minutes to launch currently the SpaceX launch director is checking with the dragon mission director make sure that the dragon ground team is ready to begin propellant loading in just over 10 minutes from now SpaceX launch director is also electronically pulling the seven members of the SpaceX launch Team for their go to load propellant and launch and once we get that go when we get green lights across the board here on the procedure the launch director will then come back and make a series of announcements they'll talk about the control room what to do during the countdown as well as protocols for hold and launch Escape coming up on 46 minutes they're continuing to get the goes from the team electronically we're waiting to hear the launch director give those instructions that ought to come within the next minute now once we get through the instructions that will give the clearance to retract the crew access arm uh that will then set up for arming of the launch Escape system and that will take us into propellant load itself that will begin at T minus 35 minutes you can see on the monitor the crew on the right hand side they're getting ready for their final directions here on the left side we've got the Dragon capsule the crew access arm pulls complete and the team is ready for crew access Armory track propellant load and launch reminder for control room lockdown for all operators and Mission Control and fire room 4. both control rooms will go to lockdown at T-minus 45 minutes which is now and remain in that state until the launch Escape system is disarmed all operators remain through console and maintain a sterile cockpit until MD confirms successful disarming launch Escape system following orbital insertion or propellant offloads in the event of a scrub reminder on hold and launch Escape protocol for non-urgent no-go conditions brief CE or LD they will approve a boarding to countdown urgent issues affecting the safety of the operation operator shall call hold hold hold hold on account down net launch control will launch immediately and proceed into the launchable auto sequence T minus 10 seconds launch control be hands off and relying on automated abort criteria for the remainder of the count finally operators shall advise launch director whether structural breakup or fire is imminent or occurring for Dragon manual Escape flight rules finally regarding leak through on the first stage ACS isolation valve we will manually monitor the pressure in the manifold stage one will assess and a T-minus 35 seconds indicate whether the pressure rise is within the predicted range if it is not stage one will call a hold on the countdown net are there any questions hearing no questions launch control you may proceed with arming the crew arm for movement well we're going to proceed with purple arm retraction the two access arm Kate it's going to begin retracting we're getting into that next Dynamic phase where a lot of events start happening over the next 10 minutes now while we wait for the arm to begin moving currently Falcon 9 Dragon continue to be go obviously we've completed the poll the range continues we go for launch they're monitoring clearance area around the pad and there goes the arm beginning to move the view from on top of the fixed service structure and the weather continues to be acceptable for launch as we get ever closer nice view from the camera inside the Lightroom as the arm moves away from dragon foreign the clock continues to tick down we're now at T minus 42 minutes uh mark on the dot the axis arm retraction is complete as you just heard there that crew access arm is now completely stowed it is now in the launch position of course necessary in order to clear the way uh for Falcon 9 to lift off now next up we will hear that we'll hear the call out that the launch Escape system is going to be armed and from there we'll hear that Falcon 9 propellant load will also begin Dragon SpaceX viewer go for Section six close visors and arm launch Escape system copy go for Section six we saw our ax2 crew members exit the brand new suit up room located in the Falcon support building just about three hours ago they also got their tablets hey sex Dragon advisors are closed and we're arming the launch Escape system now those tablets provide them with all the information they'll need for the mission you see them attached to their left legs shortly after that point the crew took one last ride in the Teslas to launch pad 39a ascended the fixed service structure signed the white wall and ingressed into Dragon after getting buckled in the spacecraft hatch was closed the closeout technicians cleared the pad leaving just the crew members inside the dragon vehicle all right so as we heard the call out we are arming the launch Escape system which is a system that basically gives the crew options a pathway to safety through All Phases to orbit uh you know we take everything is verified armed we take every measure possible to ensure that the crew has options safety is Paramount so there we just got that confirmation that that launch Escape system is now armed so let's take a look at the teams that are actually working together to make sure this mission is a success SpaceX is operating out of two control Rooms Today there on your screen a live view of our launch control in firing room 4 at Cape Canaveral this team is responsible for monitoring Falcon 9 throughout the countdown and launch second we have Mission Control here at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne California this team in Mission Control is responsible for close monitoring of the crew and dragon every step of the way as the spacecraft orbits the planet along its customized flight path on Console or headset there are a number of key positions who are monitoring the health of the vehicle and crew the mission director that person is responsible for Mission success and they are in charge of the room today's Mission director is Ken gamerek other positions are focused on things like software propulsion navigation avionics life support systems and Communications with ground segments as we've heard those kind of called out throughout the day so far you'll also hear a specific person dedicated to communicating with the ax2 crew they are the crew operations responsible engineer or core c-o-r-e today's SpaceX core is Arthur barriolt we've heard him a number of times through the launch countdown the SpaceX team members will also rotate and hand off coverage to ensure that we have people on Console 24 7 for the crew and uh and dragon for the entire duration of the mission including all the way through Splashdown and for Axiom space the teams in Houston are utilizing Axiom Mission Control Center an officially certified controlled center from the secure facility teams have live access to voice video and data from the ISS and can work alongside their NASA counterparts to run on-orbit operations and monitor every aspect of the mission in real time this room is led by what we call the axle or the Axiom operations lead and around the room are positions for officers responsible for research Communications medical integration and stowage and timeline operations this is a significant step in our journey to expand access to low earth orbit as it is only the 12th ground segment partner for the ISS program and through this facility we are enabling our customers and the global Community a front row seat to the work being done on station we are now T minus 37 minutes and 31 seconds from the second all private astronaut mission to the International Space Station and the first for any representatives from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Falcon 9 propellant loading begin at T minus 35 minutes rp1 fuel loading is underway on both S1 and S2 and lox loading is underway on Essence we'll be venting for prep Talent loud expect loud venting with propelled load let's go check in with John I John isberger here from the webcast desk in Hawthorne California SpaceX headquarters inside 37 minutes counting down we have completed the go no go Poll for propellant load and for launch we've just heard a call out they are now venting down the tanks that's one of the steps in propellant load the next major activity will occur at T minus 35 minutes one propellant loading will physically begin onto the vehicle now we'll start with rp1 kerosene fuel loading onto both the first and second stages and we'll be loading liquid oxygen onto the first stage of Falcon 9. now in order to fly just like Falcon 9 Dragon needs its feel and oxidizer the Dragon capsule you can see here on the screen it uses a monomethyl hydrazine called mmh that's the fuel that's on board the dragon and nitrogen tetroxide or nto is the oxidizer together these propellants feed the Draco engines that maneuver dragon on orbit as well as the H super Draco engines that would power the launch Escape system in the case of an abort scenario now again coming up in about 40 seconds we will begin feeling on the Falcon 9. that means right now that those eight super Draco engines inside crew Dragon are ready if needed to launch the capsule away from the Falcon 9 rocket in an instant should there be any kind of an emergency associated with the rocket or the pad but currently 35 minutes 18 seconds and counting everything continues to look good on Falcon 9 and dragon thank you John on the ax1 flight and during our launch broadcast for that mission there was a special emphasis on the Trish research effort or the translational Research Institute for space Health as the name suggests has started hey it sounds like a propellant load has started as for Trish as the name suggests this is a broad effort aimed at ensuring we understand and are preparing for human health beyond our home planet this is an effort that NASA astronauts and private astronauts can both participate in naturally naturally life just a few hundred miles above Earth poses some unique challenges that we're still unlocking the secrets to even after 60 plus years of humans in space here is a bit more on the progress made during ax1 and what's ahead for our participation in this critical research effort thank you for joining us Dr Fogerty and Dr yurcata from Trish the translational Research Institute for space Health let's start with an easy question what exactly is Trish yes Trish Trish is a Consortium between Baylor College of Medicine MIT and Caltech we are funded by NASA to relentlessly and innovatively solve the risks for human space exploration and use a variety of tools to get there including commercial spaceflight what are the goals of the research being conducted for ax2 through Trish that is a great question uh the researcher we conducting on ax2 has been highly prioritized to solve the most important risks for human space flight as we are planning to go back to the moon and going to other planets so all of these projects have been uh custom made and designed to be easy to collect to take the least crew time and to take the least Mass power and volume an example is this kid that I have here we provide one of these to each of the of the crew members and it includes most of the hardware they need to collect physiologic data sensory motor that is your balance how it changes in space some surveys and also how the physiology changes in space so all of these um are have been again customized for commercial space flight framework for This research how is this set up to enable new data for new Flyers yes so the expand program at Trish has two main elements to its framework to accomplish the goals that were just set out by Dr yaketa so we have essential measures which have been harmonized with NASA's standard measures to make sure that we're collecting the same type of data on every crew member so we can compare across people across different missions to really maximize the value and then we have exploratory studies as the second part of the framework and this is where the known unknowns the questions we have about space flight or the risks have hypotheses generated and we get to test them how does the research apply to those of us on Earth I mean some of us are maybe never going to be leaving this planet why do we care about this kind of work Dr Fogerty Dr yucata yeah this is where things get really exciting so due to the constraints of space flight and the complexity we have to be really focused on creating integrated and Holistic Solutions we can't have individual solutions for every problem those constraints create a really ideal environment to bring things back to Earth to put Healthcare in people's hands we believe that these are going to increase Healthcare Equity the access to health care and the quality of health care which then results in improved Health outcomes how does this Mission ax2 add to the range of data that's a great question in the last 61 plus years of human space flight roughly only 650 people have flown into space and if we look at the diversity of these mostly our male white Bales and what we were seeing with commercial space flight is a more diverse population we're seeing people from all ages younger and older as compared to your government astronauts we're also seeing people from multiple demographics backgrounds training education and also people with medical conditions so as we keep growing this database of civilians flying into space we will have all of the tools that we need to make most humans being able to to fly into space Stay further longer and enjoy the experience much for joining us I look forward to watching the launch with you and seeing the astronauts return and looking at their data thank you thank you we are now just under 30 minutes from the launch of ax2 mission it has taken an enormous effort from an incredibly dedicated and hardworking team to get to this moment knowing that that not everyone can be here to witness it and even fewer get to share a message with the crew we asked teams to record some words for this moment as the countdown to launch continues here are a few messages from those across the Axiom family Peggy you are an inspiration to so many people around the world to me it's been so impactful to see a woman like yourself make such great strides and exploration and Achieve so many different types of Firsts my family and I will be watching you launch and cheering you on all the way to the ISS hi Peggy Kelly and Delta here we just wanted to let you know that we're cheering you on we're so excited to watch you launch you're an inspiration to women and girls around the world and you've been a personal inspiration to me and my own journey to space we're so excited to watch you launch and we'll be cheering you on here on Earth [Music] to Peggy our notorious space ninja John AKA Loki to Ali who is also known as Slayer and then to Rihanna our very own ray of sunshine wishing you an amazing launch today as well as a smooth journey to ISS at Astra ax2 crew thank you Peggy John Ali and Rihanna for inspiring the next generation of astronauts from our crew experience team to our axt group we are so proud of everything you've accomplished and we're excited for your successful journey home send us a postcard just wanted to say that we're super excited for all the groundbreaking resources you guys are going to do we're rooting for you and good luck the marketing team has been proud to support af2 Mission godspeed ax2 this is the portable life support system team we are very excited about the ax2 mission coming up and wish you all the best we're very excited for you guys y'all are such an inspiration and we're rooting for you all the way through we wish you a safe and successful Mission we want to congratulate the ax2 crew thank you so much for all the inspiration and and we wish you the best on your journey ax2 crew we're proud of you and good luck hey X2 all of us in avionics wish you safe travels and lots of fun godspeed this is the Environmental controls and life support systems team at Axiom space we're super excited about the axu mission and want to wish the best of the crew ax2 crew we are so proud of you here at Axiom space this is the systems engineering team on the station program godspeed and add Astra on this groundbreaking Mission from Human Resources to you we're sending all of our support to you guys from here in Axiom headquarters and we just wanted to say congratulations on the ax2 mission hey this is Ryan Lee from the pressure garment team wishing you on the ah2 flight all the best godspeed guys go team go team go team go team go [Applause] Peggy Jonah Ali rayana I look forward to seeing you flying in space and working aboard the International Space Station I also wish you to enjoy your staying aboard for this another making history Mission we are all proud of you and we wait for you on the ground and Godspeed relax a big thanks to all those who contributed to those videos and everyone behind the crew today a lot of really excited teams out there and a special thanks to Kelly Girardi and the space gal Emily calandrelli both big steam education Advocates who you just saw as well they dedicate their influence to increasing literacy and interest in science especially for young girls which is awesome you know Emily and Kelly are both moms to young girls so it's safe to say that they have front row seats to knowing what is cool and inspiring now speaking of front row seats it's been feeling like we have one of our very own looking at pad 39a with these camera views that we've been getting all morning and afternoon now let's take a moment to get acquainted with the vehicles that you see there on your screen the Falcon 9 rocket with a dragon spacecraft on top together stand at about 215 feet which is almost 30 feet taller than the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy Falcon 9 is a reusable two-stage rocket which means it's kind of like two rockets in one the first stage and the second stage the first stage is the bottom two-thirds of the vehicle today's booster is flying for the first time you can think of it as the large bottom white portion and the middle black portion so that's what we mean when we say the booster the first stages were responsible for accelerating accelerating Falcon and dragon through the Earth's atmosphere and into space in order to do that it has nine Merlin engines at the bottom of the stage prior to liftoff the Falcon 9 first stages stage two cryo helium load has started actually and currently underway is being loaded up with nearly 1 million pounds of fuel and liquid oxygen the Merlin engines on the first stage are optimized for sea level they achieve 190 000 pounds of thrust during ascent and descent the first stage accelerates the vehicle through the Earth's atmosphere into space and then separates from the rest of the rocket about two and a half minutes into flight from there the first stage will head over to lz1 it will do what no other rocket or excuse me what no other orbital class rocket in the world can do it'll go right there make its way back to Earth today marks the first time we are landing Falcon 9 on land for a crew mission previous crew missions landed on a drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean so pretty exciting first for us today Landing back on land has a lot of benefits for example it eliminates the need for our recovery team to be stationed out at sea for days and it improves our turnaround time to get Falcon 9 ready to fly again now above these the first stage is the second stage the second stage has a single Merlin vacuum or mvac engine and that ignites after the first stage separates the second stage is essentially a smaller version of the first stage whereas the first stage is designed to power the vehicle out of the Earth's atmosphere and through the forces of gravity the second stage is specifically designed to operate in the vacuum of space the second stage Powers the dragon spacecraft to its targeted drop-off orbit the dragon spacecraft itself is capable of carrying up to seven passengers to and from Earth orbit and Beyond but as we've been seeing with those views inside the capsule today we're carrying four people we have the four members of the Axiom 2 crew it's the first private spacecraft to take humans to the space station and the only spacecraft currently flying that is capable of returning significant amounts of cargo to Earth like the Falcon 9 rocket the dragon spacecraft is also reusable this will be the second flight for this particular Dragon spacecraft the this is Dragon Freedom that the ax2 are flying in today it previously supported NASA's crew 4 Mission in April 2022. now we are awaiting our t0 coming up in just over 23 minutes from now the ground operations teams are doing a series of system checks to make sure both dragon and Falcon 9 are ready for launch let's take a look at what the ascent portion of the mission will look like and once we hit t0 we're going to watch Falcon 9 and dragon lift off from historic pad 39a and make their ascent now about 43 seconds into flight Falcon 9's engines will throttle down to help pass through the period of Maximum Dynamic pressure on the rocket what we typically refer to as Max Q it's worth noting once we hit Max Q we'll be going supersonic faster than the speed of sound Dynamic pressure we can throttle up our Merlin engines once again from there at about two and a half minutes into flight we have a series of three events that happen in Rapid succession first is Mikko or main engine cutoff this is where all nine Merlin engines will shut off in preparation for stage separation whereas the name suggests that's where the first stage detaches from the second stage with the first stage making its way back to Earth for landing as the second stage continues on its Journey with the third event that event is ses1 the second stage engine start number one that's where the Merlin vacuum engine lights up and propels the second stage along with our ax ax2 crew and dragon into orbit as stage 2 heads towards its targeted drop-off orbit stage one will execute three Burns in order to make its way back to Earth the first is the Boost back burn where three of the Merlin 1D engines will reignite and then shut down this helps to head the booster back to Cape Canaveral the second burn or the entry burn helps to slow the stage down in preparation for entry back through the Earth's atmosphere at about 90 seconds after Dragon gets into orbit Falcon 9 will then land back on Earth The Landing burn will bring the vehicle speed down rapidly in order to land back on land near the launch site today around eight minutes into Mission I should say that actually happens about a minute prior to that second engine cutoff yep you're right Kate so as the first stage is back on Earth the second stage will cut off its single Merlin engine that was ignited right after stage separation once this happened we wait for that all important confirmation of a good orbital insertion then Dragon will begin its preparations and separate from the second stage about three minutes after the section stage gets into orbit we ought to get that great view from the Ford camera showing dragon with its four-person crew drifting away from the second stage once dragon is a short distance away it will begin checking out those Draco maneuvering thrusters to make sure that Dragon continues to increase the separation distance from the second stage the nose cone deploy sequence will initiate just before t plus 12 minutes and finish around t plus 15 minutes which will expose dragon's docking mechanism in advance to arrival mode is complete all right that call out there telling us that rp1 loading is now complete on uh stage one now in advance or excuse me on I think we heard actually stage two there um now that talking mechanism exposure will be in advance of arrival to the International Space Station now with that let's head over to Leah at Johnson Space Center in Houston for another update on how things are going there with station preparation hey Leah hey Kate the space station team here in Houston is focused on the critical systems on the station and everything continues to function as expected ahead of launch so the teams have verified the command path the ground up through our constellation of communication satellites to the station everything is nominal we love that word and the station will be ready to receive Dragon tomorrow should they launch tonight Mission Control Houston is go for launch once the crew arrives at station the Expedition 69 crew will be there to welcome the ax2 crew on board right now living in the station we have seven people that includes NASA astronauts Frank Rubio Woody hoberg and Steve Bowen United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan al-nayari and Rose Cosmos cosmonauts Andre fedaya Sergey prokopiev and Dimitri patelan flight director Greg Whitney is on Console now leading flight controllers on the orbit 3 team in Houston for launch and flight director Marcus Flores will lead teams for docking tomorrow a reminder that launch today will take about 16 hours to get to the station with a docking to the node 2 Zenith or space-facing Port scheduled just before 9 30 a.m eastern time tomorrow once dragon is fully docked to the state here in Houston will assist the Axiom space and space station astronauts with leak checks as they work to open hatches on both dragon and inside the station's pressurized meeting adapter we expect hatch open to take place about two hours after docking that's it for us here in Mission Control Houston and I will send it back over to the team in Hawthorne Duke thanks Leah and all of that is set to begin in just over 18 minutes from right now and I gotta say the energy around here is certainly Rising as Leah just mentioned once the crew launches they will spend the next 16 hours in Dragon catching up to the International Space Station that time on orbit and in Dragon will feature a variety of tasks including some planned photography but about half of that time is scheduled for Sleep which the crew will absolutely need because once they reach the ISS they have quite the schedule ahead of them they will spend eight days on station conducting a variety of science investigations and Technology demonstrations including radiation protection research studies on how to create rain and how to enhance our understanding of dangerous thunderstorms as well as DNA research with nanomaterials and reprogramming skin cells to help create regenerative medicines wow when they are not Hands-On with research they will be participating in numerous Outreach events connecting with groups around the world John for instance will use the station's ham radio to share a message with students beyond all that Commander Peggy Whitson has assured us that each of them will carve out some time to Simply pause and look down at the planet below as it speeds by at a cool 17 500 miles per hour the whole time on station just in the cupola the whole time yes exactly now as we've said before we have an instantaneous launch window that means that we have one second we're targeting uh 5 37 PM Eastern Time 2 37 PM Pacific time so just 16 and a half minutes load has begun that call they're telling us that the liquid oxygen on stage two is now beginning or the liquid oxygen on is beginning to be loaded onto stage two uh that will wrap up around T minus two minutes now I was talking about the instantaneous launch window because we are essentially chasing the space station we're trying to catch up to it it means that in order for everything to be precisely lined up in terms of how much propellant we're taking on board and obviously we don't want to take too much because everything about space is weight how much weight are you taking um and so we want to optimize our path to the International Space Station and uh yes we basically have that instantaneous moment to take off all right and that moment is coming soon and as we approach the final moments of our countdown to launch Axiom space CEO Mike suffradini wanted to take a moment to reflect on this the second Axiom space mission this Mission today is very meaningful for Axiom space it's a watershed moment because it's our opportunity to really start bringing the rest of the world to the International Space Station we're honored that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is flying with us here today the two crew members flying are fantastic they've done a great job in training of course John schoffner's been with us for a while he's a backup on ax1 we're excited for him to fly of course the commanders Peggy Whitson and while she's the first woman Commander for a commercial Mission that's a big deal to us I really don't think it's a huge deal to Peggy she's flown so many times this is uh you know like riding a bike but we're very excited for this crew and we're looking forward to their mission so you know we don't do this by ourselves Axiom is a wonderful company with the Fantastic employees they've done quite a bit of work to get to this point the commander is one of our very own as well but our thanks go out to the entire team that support us the Axiom done a fantastic job in preparing for the mission and the medical and all the work that's gone into getting the crews ready to go fly uh SpaceX which is a fantastic reliable Dragon spacecraft and Falcon launch vehicle have prepped the crew and the vehicle and it's out on the launch pad ready to go and of course NASA we can't do any of this without NASA who who has worked with us along the way allowed us to have this opportunity and will work with us on orbit and of course the investors the reason why we get to do what we're doing is accompany and build this space station and do these missions because the investors that are with us along the way so it's the entire team that has supported us and worked with us throughout this last several months as we prepared for this Mission and thankful to them all [Music] alright guys you're going to have a great time on orbit we're looking forward to seeing you there on orbit from all of us here at Axiom we wish you good luck in Godspeed [Music] just under 13 and a half minutes and everything continues to look good for launch of Falcon 9. now currently Falcon 9 began for today's lunch we have continued weather evaluations and for your awareness we are monitoring an anvil cloud that is moving towards lc39a it's currently five miles away and it just needs to remain outside of three miles for launch to continue the weather officer is going to continue monitoring this cloud and will continue to provide updates to the launch teams how copy checking copies no issues on the vehicle watching the cloud thinking very dry soft good read back and just a reminder that the city Falcon 9 valves the Falcon team is going to be performing that manual evaluation of the manifold pressure until T minus 35 seconds and if we do not pass those checks the Falcon team will call a hold if the evaluation passes there will be no call made and we will continue with the countdown so again at T minus 35 seconds following the manual evaluation if we do not pass those checks the Falcon team will call a hold but if there is no call we have passed the checks and we will continue with countdown gag and Kathy's manual Invasion evaluation will call a hold if it's not passing the check expect no call if uh if it looks good good route back I like that comment thinking dry thoughts now we're talking about propellant loading rp1 fuel is completely loaded on the second stage field loading is continuing on the first stage we just about full it'll finish up at the T minus six minute mark densified liquid oxygen loading is continuing on the first stage and the second stage both stages well underway first stage is nearing a completion but it won't wrap up until T minus three minutes the second stage just began a few minutes ago that'll wrap up a T minus two minutes as we get closer to launch we will do various checkouts one is the thrust Vector controllers these are what move the engine nozzles around on the first and second stage engine and when we move those nozzles we call it TVC Wiggles those will be done inside 10 minutes we'll also be doing checkouts of throttle valves on the engine now the range currently is go air and c space are clear the weather uh you heard the briefing from the core up to the crew we're watching One anvil cloud it's within five miles but it's Gotta just stay more than three miles away and we will be go to fly and meanwhile the dragon team also had reported they're working no issues everything is complete through the countdown the comp checkouts are finished the access arm is retracted the launch Escape system is armed the crew is strapped in and ready to go we're coming up on Final instructions of the crew we'll hear that of T minus 10 minutes they'll configure their displays for launch they'll get the last messages and then we'll go into the terminal countdown sequence let's listen into the countdown net Dragon SpaceX confirm crew displays are configured for launch and SpaceX dragging we can confirm crew displays are configured for launch SpaceX copies and on behalf of the entire SpaceX team we are honored to have you aboard Dragon capsule Freedom today on its next trip to the International Space Station and the second Axiom creation we wish you a great Mission good luck godspeed and enjoy the ride Let Freedom fly you're the crew calling back to the ground to Let Freedom fly we see them applauding everything continuing to look good we're coming up on nine minutes to Launch next major event is going to be engine chill at T minus seven minutes as John just said at T minus seven minutes we will begin to flow a little bit of the super chilled liquid oxygen through the turbo pumps which that is basically chilling the hardware performing an engine chill prior to the full flow we do that in order to help minimize the chances of the hardware experiencing any thermal shock when that full flow of super chilled liquid oxygen occurs now we can see some venting from the vehicle now totally normal it is that liquid oxygen just vaporizing as it comes into contact with the ambient air can't take maybe this is an opportunity you know we always use the word abort this might be a chance to let everybody know that there are abort call outs in Flight that we're going to hear those are just heads up to the crew that says should a contingency occur there's different actions that'll happen at each various stage of the flight when you're on first stage or when you're on second stage that's right we should actually hear Commander Peggy Whitson calling those abort modes out as they are ascending and really getting to orbit she is tracking everything on her both her tablet as well on her leg as well as the crew display above her head so she is able to identify at which mode they are entering and those modes identify basically where and what sequence Dragon would take at that point in time during the flight now we're about 10 seconds away from that engine chill for the first stage engine chill has started all right right on time we've opened the valves that are letting liquid oxygen and kerosene fuel down to the Merlin 1D engines on the first stage our next major activity coming up at T minus six minutes approximately we'll hear the announcement that field loading is complete on the first stage and one other comment while we were hearing the briefing to the crew uh at the T-minus 10 minute Mark we also heard reference to a call out that may or may not be made at T minus 35 seconds many of the checkouts of the Falcon 9 are done by computer in the last minute there is one today that requires an edge look at some data if for example that system had an issue that would be called out at T minus 35 seconds right now everything continues to look good though on falcon 9. I mean we also heard in the briefing that they are tracking an anvil cloud that at the time of the briefing was about five miles away from the pad they are tracking it it just needs to stay outside of three miles so everything still continues to look okay on that front the next call out that we'll hear in about 30 seconds is that dragon has transitioned uh to the terminal count configuration that's basically an indication that the dragon spacecraft has taken over the space the spacecraft's countdown and is Will at that point be on internal power at this point in time rp1 is now completely loaded both on the first and second stages locks load continues on both stages it'll wrap up at T minus three minutes for first stage and T minus two minutes for second stage are pressurizing for prongrec retract pressurization call out we are putting uh pressurized gas helium onto the stage in preparation for opening up the clamp arm that's around the top of the second stage that'll happen just at about the T minus four minute Mark the clamp arm will open and about 10 seconds after that the strong back the structure alongside the Falcon 9 will recline just about two degrees away we've heard the call out strong back is retracting that starts the sequence now in the ground computer to open the arms and recline that strong back about two degrees away at liftoff Hydraulics will then pull the strong back to a position about 45 degrees away from the rocket as it flies out of the launch mount see the arms opening up now around the second stage we should now be able to see that strong backward track just a couple degrees away from the launch vehicle upon liftoff it will move back even further in order to clear the way for falcon 9. looks like we can start to see that movement now this structure is what is utilized to horizontally integrate the vehicles while still in the hangar as well as transport them horizontally to the launch pad and then raise them to their vertical launch position and we've got the strong back is now you see a little bounce there as it stops stage one lock float is complete and right on time stage one locks load is complete we're down to just loading a liquid oxygen on the second stage that'll wrap up just after T minus two minutes at which point will have the million pounds propellant onboard Falcon 9 Ready To Fly we can see the vehicle continuing to vent some of that gaseous or the liquid oxygen that has now vaporized Franken is in terminal count and is on internal power we have a live view there of the SpaceX team here at headquarters in mission control on the left hand side as well as the Axiom team from their own mission control as well on the right Dragon SpaceX for weather looks like the system has cleared and we're looking like we're go for launch for weather all right we've heard a good news information to the crew gagging copies we're letting them know that appears the weather is going to avoid the area that is great news indeed just waiting now for the call out liquid oxygen load complete on the second stage two locks load is complete dragon is an auto idle Brown gas Closeouts expect loud venting at venting we're now bleeding off excess pressure in the strong back that's what's giving that large white plume as cold gas meets the warm Florida air and condenses the moisture coming up on one minute where the flight computers will take over the sequence let's listen in to the launch of Falcon 9 with dragon in the Axiom 2 crew FTS is armed Falcon 9 is in startup and is now controlling is in countdown Dragon SpaceX go for lunch tagging copy go Vermont T-minus 30 seconds T minus 15. T-minus 10. nine eight seven six five four three two one engines full power and liftoff Falcon nine go action copy what Alpha together we expand what is possible in low earth orbit add Astra and Godspeed ax2 me plus 30 seconds into this historic p plus 36 second 36 seconds into flight a great view of Falcon 9 heading to space power Telemetry nominal we're into the throttle bucket is the first stage is Throttle Down power on the Merlin engines in preparation for Max Q 92 speed of sound as we're getting great views from the first stage camera looking back at Kennedy Space Center complex 39a stage one throttle up Max Q I'm out of the throttle bucket take one Bravo copy one problem we're in full power and that call that one Brahma that's another one of those abort modes as we get higher and faster the logic for drug and should a contingency occur changes from stage to stage chill announcement says we're getting the turbo pump on the second stage engine cooled down in preparation for its light up coming up in just another minute from now again great views looking back and you can see the contrail as we left 39a in the uh the shadow of the contrail against the cloud deck around Florida now we're coming up three big sequences and a view live of the crew inside dragon they're getting ready we're gonna get three events here main engine cut off and then we're gonna light the second stage engine we've heard the throttle down in preparation for stage separation State separation confirmed copy two output and back ignition stage one who's back startup all right stage separation we've lit the second stage engine the first stage is into the Boost back burn working its way back towards Cape Canaveral views on the left side that's the first stage engines running as we come back to the launch site or the landing site second stage engine nozzle is visible on the right side as we're powering the Axiom 2 crew into low earth orbit on the way to the International Space Station waiting for call out that the Boost back burn is complete stage one boost back shutdown right on time first stage completed the first of three Burns heading back to the landing site second stage continuing on Power and on trajectory acquisition Casino Bermuda we head Northeast the Bermuda ground station SpaceX trajectory nominal Bermuda is listening into the vehicle nominal trajectory and the crew here's the call out of a nominal trajectory so four minutes into flight everything continuing to go well first days heading back and there's the crew on the second stage getting the right into orbit to the space station coming up we're waiting for the next trajectory call out from the guidance officer Dragon SpaceX trajectory nominal ah love to hear those words a nominal trajectory for Dragons nominal trajectory and maybe even a little bit of excitement in the crew's voice Commander Peggy Whitson calling back down hearing that call out from GNC of a nominal trajectory left side of the screen you can see the first stage it's now beginning to orient itself so that the engines are pointed down towards the land as we will be descending towards Landing Zone one in Cape Canaveral the four titanium grid fins have all deployed they'll help guide us I mean they'll guide the first stage through the once we get into the atmosphere following the entry burn which will be coming up here in another couple of minutes on the right hand side the second stage with the Dragon capsule on top heading up the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S we've just heard the call out of Boston that's the New Hampshire tracking station has picked up the signal Dragon SpaceX trajectory nominal GNC continuing to make those callouts that we want to hear everything and the crew echoing them right back down good comes with the crew we've been able to bring some live video shots from inside the capsule as they're headed to space and there's another view of the crew stage one entry burn startup and there we heard that the startup burn for that stage one booster you can see it there on the left hand side of your screen has now begun stage one entry burn shutdown and conclusion of that entry burned that burn helps to slow the vehicle down as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere the first day the first stage sees High drag which scrubs roughly 70 percent of the Velocity by the time trajectory nominal love to hear that call out everything criminal trajectory beautiful view of planet Earth coming to us from the second stage views on the right hand side left hand side our first view of the space coast once again this booster is attempting a landing at lz1 stage one transonic booster is now traveling near the speed of sound my view coming to you from one of our tracking cameras we can see the grid fins actuating to help steer the booster down stage one Atlantic birth to FTS has saved standing by to stage one Landing Lake deploy Ed you can see that first stage has landed back at lz1 this is this is the first time that we have performed a land landing on a crew mission coming up coming up next will be second engine cutoff or Seco and that's where after after that engine cuts off second stage will Coast for a few minutes until dragon is commanded to separate stage 2 is in terminal guidance we're expecting Seco to occur in about 20 seconds Shannon copy Shannon Commander Peggy Woodson continuing to call out the abort modes Pico all right on time shutdown of that second engine also confirming that the launch Escape system is now disarmed dragons B6 nominal orbit insertion all right and there's that call out we can confirm good orbital insertion happy nominal insertion Dragon SpaceX launch Escape system disarmed we can see the crew playing with their harnesses now that they are in 0g which I think we just got a view of our zero g stuffy clearly the crew is having fun already right after liftoff I think we heard a laugh coming from Commander Peggy Whitson which being a NASA Legend and one of the most decorated astronauts of all time uh it's amazing to hear that even a space veteran as she okay still has fun at liftoff the next event that we have coming up at just around t plus 12 minutes is Dragon separation that's where the dragon spacecraft and trunk so collectively referred to as the dragon spacecraft will separate from the second stage after that separation we will begin to deploy the nose cone which exposes the forward bulkhead thrusters as well as the forward hatch that forward hatch is what the capsule utilizes to autonomously dock to the International Space Station going from left to right everyone's having fun clearly we have Mission specialist Rihanna barnawi to the right of her is pilot John schoffner then we have Commander Peggy Whitson and on the far right Mission specialist Ali al-karni we can see that the excess strap on some of the harnesses as well as the writing utensil for their tablets they continue to play around with as they are experiencing zero g for the first time at least we can say that for three of the four astronauts on board today now we are standing by for Dragon separation which is expected to occur in the next few seconds live on your screen that Dragon function capsule that's a really cool a very great plate uh wishing safe travels a few words from our chief engineer as well thanks for putting your trust in the Falcon 9 team hope you enjoyed the ride to space have a great trip on Dragon welcome home to zero g Peggy that was SpaceX chief engineer Bill Gerson here this is it was a phenomenal rag sure you share the joy of zero g with your crew we will do that already you can see dragon's Draco thrusters activating Dragon SpaceX nominal dehumidifier activation and service section Draco checkouts nosco deploys in progress hooks are opening Dragon copies all right great news there to let us know that the hooks there are two sets two sets of hooks that are now disengaging and once that is complete we are able to deploy uh open the nose cone we should see that nose cone deploy in about a minute it's a great view on the right hand side of your screen from the Falcon 9 second stage looking at the dragon Freedom capsule of course the crew on the left hand side playfully uh acclimating to their new zero g environment you can see the zero g indicator in the background and I love this view this view is over the shoulders of Commander Peggy Whitson who here is on the left hand side or the left seat and pilot John schoffner is on the right seat here looking at what they're looking at this these are the the crew display panels that they utilize in flight to track which thrusters are firing what phase of the mission that they are in as you can see where they are around the globe all right as we can see crew getting acclimated the uh nose cone hooks are in the process of being disengaged so they are starting to open um and once those uh that is complete we are able to open the nose cone and expose the forward hatch so incredible well today's launch is certainly one more for the history books and yet the story is just getting underway Leah with the crew officially on their way to the International Space Station how are things tracking their emission control at Johnson Space Center hey Duke well the chase has officially begun with dragon uh heading toward the International Space Station so with successful launch of Axia mission 2 at 37 p.m Eastern the teams here at nasus Johnson Space Center are going to be monitoring dragon's flight to the International Space Station over the next 16 hours our role in this journey really kicks in at a period called integrated operations this is where Dragon is much closer to the station and at this point NASA SpaceX and Axiom space teams are all in lockstep to get the crew safely docked the teams here are preparing for a docking of ax2 to the station at about 9 30 a.m eastern time tomorrow we're going to be begin joint coverage of that phase at 7 30 a.m eastern time but for now that'll be it for us in Mission Control Houston tonight and I'll be back with you tomorrow for docking back to you Kate and Duke yeah now over the next 16 hours Dragon will execute a series of burns to gradually raise and line up the ax2 crew for docking with the International Space Station and what we refer to as activation and Rendezvous phase of the mission now in just a few minutes the crew will get the chance get to change out of their spacesuits and get a little bit more comfortable for flight and will enjoy their first meal aboard the spacecraft I'm sure that'll be a lot of fun the first time for three of them eating in microgravity at 2 p.m Pacific they will get ready for a rest period that will last about 10 hours 8 hours for actual sleeping and a couple hours for pre and post-leep activities and then before they arrive at the station we'll have two potential opportunities to chat briefly with the crew on orbit uh one later this morning around 11 10 a.m Pacific and one early tomorrow about 10 12 10 a.m Pacific while we're hopeful that one of these will work out neither opportunity is guaranteed as they are dependent on both crew schedule and ground station coverage but if we're able to support we'll make an announcement on our social media channels no later than 15 minutes before the event start time but in the meantime be sure to keep tabs on the mission at axiomspace.com and you can also keep track of dragon's flight on spacex.com launches and even if we aren't able to talk live with the crew we will continue to provide updates on the mission across our social media channels and starting at 7 30 a.m Eastern 4 30 a.m Pacific on Monday May 22nd we will pick back up with our live joint coverage of the ax2 crews approach and docking to station with NASA please keep an eye on Axiom and SpaceX social channels for updates as there will be plenty of incredible moments to share with you over the next 10 days and so from all of us at Axiom space thank you SpaceX thank you NASA this is just the beginning and thank you for tuning in we hope to see you soon thank you [Music]

Channel: SpaceX

Views: 2,959,457

Keywords: SpaceX, Space, Mission, NASA, Astronauts, International Space Station, Axiom, Axiom Space, Axiom Mission 2, Ax-2, Saudi Space Commission, SSC, ISS, Falcon 9, Dragon

Id: 9ekFE2RxBMI

Length: 230min 10sec (13810 seconds)

Published: Sun May 21 2023