Saudi astronauts bound for Earth after 10 days in space

Saudi astronauts bound for Earth after 10 days in space

RIYADH — Saudi astronauts Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali Al Qarni concluded their 10-day historic mission on the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday, and began their journey back to Earth.

The Saudi Space Commission (SSC) posted a video clip on Twitter, showing their last moments at the end of a series of scientific experiments.

On Monday, Barnawi and Al Qarni and their American colleagues, Peggy Whitson and John Shoffner, who make up the four-person crew dubbed the Axiom-2 mission, finished all their science and media outreach events and started packing the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft for their return home.

The SpaceX Dragon began the return journey, which takes about 12 hours before reaching the water, announcing the end of the Ax-2 space mission launched by Saudi Arabia on May 22 as the first Saudi scientific mission toward space.

The spacecraft is returning to Earth with more than 300 pounds of cargo and important data that will impact understanding of human physiology on Earth and on-orbit.

The Dragon spacecraft, the first spacecraft to automatically transport humans outside Earth, began its separation journey from ISS on Tuesday, and it carried out several maneuvers until it entered the atmosphere, and thus is set to land off the coast of