Return of Polish astronaut to Earth to begin on Monday
The return of the Ax-4 mission crew, which includes Polish astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, is scheduled to start no earlier than Monday, July 14, the Polish Space Agency (POLSA) has reported.
POLSA said on Friday that the process would be broadcast live by Axiom Space, NASA and SpaceX, partners operating the Ax-4 mission.
The transmission is to begin at 10:30am Cenral European Summer Time (CEST) on Monday, in anticipation of the locking of the hatch to the Dragon Grace capsule carrying the crew back to Earth, scheduled to complete twenty-five minutes later.
After a break, the broadcast would resume at 12:45pm CEST, when the capsule is expected to separate from the International Space Station at approximately 1:05pm CEST.
The agency also said that the transmission schedule may be subject to change.
Following the entry of the Dragon Grace spacecraft into the atmosphere and its splashdown off the coast of California, the Polish astronaut will be flown to Cologne, Germany, where the European Astronaut Centre of the European Space Agency (ESA) is located.
The astronaut will then be taken to the German Aerospace Centre facility known as "envihab," which serves as a vital centre for medical monitoring and rehabilitation after missions.
"The ESA space medical team... will monitor Slawosz during his adjustment back to Earth's gravity through a specialised recovery programme," POLSA previously reported.
The four-member Ax-4 mission, which includes the Polish participant, commenced on June 25. The next day, June 26, the Dragon Grace capsule, carrying the astronauts, successfully docked with the International Space Station.
In a report released during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, Axiom Space announced that the crew had already completed nearly 230 orbits around the Earth, covering a distance of approximately 9.6 million kilometres. (PAP)
jch/jd/wpb/mf
