Tech Desk 
Jul 14, 2025
The crew of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), consisting of four private astronauts, is scheduled to leave the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday to conclude their time there.
The crew is led by Commander Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut with almost 700 days of space experience.
Her crewmates also include mission pilot Shubhanshu Shukla of India, Polish mission specialist Sławosz Uznański, who's a European Space Agency astronaut, and mission specialist Tibor Kapu of Hungary.
At around 7:05am ET, the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule will depart from the ISS.
The landing and return procedure will be covered live by NASA, SpaceX, and Axiom Space.
NASA will start covering the undocking itself at 6:45am ET, after the hatches between the spacecraft and the station have been closed at 4:30am ET. Beginning at 6:45am ET, the event will also be streamed by Axiom Space and SpaceX.
The Ax-4 astronauts carried out more than 60 scientific experiments and outreach activities while aboard the ISS.
On a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the crew took off on June 25 and reached the ISS the following day.
The Crew Dragon capsule will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California after undocking.
Axiom Space will stream the reentry and return on their website, but NASA has not specified an estimated time for splashdown.
This is Axiom's fourth crewed ISS mission, and all of them have used SpaceX hardware.
Additionally, the fact that astronauts from various nations are participating in the mission for the first time from their countries to visit the ISS also marks a significant turning point for international cooperation.
