{"id":797269,"date":"2025-07-15T05:27:04","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T10:27:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=797269"},"modified":"2025-07-15T05:27:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T10:27:04","slug":"axiom-spaces-ax-4-mission-ends-after-a-short-trip-to-iss-npr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=797269","title":{"rendered":"Axiom Space’s Ax-4 mission ends after a short trip to ISS : NPR"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n This image provided by NASA shows Axiom Space crew members from the Ax-4 mission from second left, Poland’s Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, Axiom Space’s Peggy Whitson, India’s Shubhanshu Shukla and Hungary’s Tibor Kapu aboard the International Space Station, on June 26, 2025.
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A SpaceX capsule carrying four astronauts on the private Ax-4 mission hurtled through the Earth’s atmosphere early Tuesday, paralleling the California coast with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego, capping 20 days in space. <\/p>\n

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The pre-dawn return, which rattled parts of southern California with a sonic boom just before 2:31 a.m. PT, ends Axiom Space’s fourth private mission to the International Space Station where it was docked for 18 days. <\/p>\n

The Houston, Texas-based commercial space company works with SpaceX for rides to the I.S.S. and coordinates with NASA for the usage of the station for its astronauts. Ax-4 lifted off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on June 25.<\/p>\n

On this flight, the crew of four set a number of firsts:<\/p>\n