NASA will oversee Sunday’s "Undock-1" operations, focused on pre-departure preparations.
The return journey is expected to start with hatch closure around 10:55 CET on Monday, followed by the undocking of the SpaceX Dragon "Grace" capsule at approximately 13:05 CET.
The descent is designed to be fully autonomous.
After undocking, Dragon will perform a series of engine burns to safely distance itself from the ISS and begin re-entry procedures.
Final preparations include detaching the capsule’s trunk and orienting the heat shield ahead of atmospheric entry, which will expose the spacecraft to temperatures nearing 1,600°C.
Parachutes will deploy in two stages – first stabilising chutes at about 5.7 km altitude, followed by the main parachutes at roughly 2 km.
Splashdown is expected off the coast of California approximately 20 hours after undocking. Recovery will be handled by a specialised ship.
Uznański-Wiśniewski, representing the European Space Agency (ESA), spent over two weeks in orbit after docking with the ISS on 26 June.
During his time on the station, he carried out 13 scientific experiments developed by Polish researchers and companies.
He also conducted 30 educational sessions, including live communications with students in several Polish cities.
Some of these interactions took place through an international radio programme connecting schoolchildren with astronauts on board the space station.
The Ax-4 mission, launched on 25 June, marks the successful completion of ESA’s IGNIS research programme onboard the ISS.
The mission also included research into sleep quality, mental health, bone condition, brain activity, and volcanic algae.
A final experiment, focusing on atmospheric lightning, was conducted in collaboration with Hungarian scientists.
Upon returning to Earth, Uznański-Wiśniewski will travel to a space medicine facility in Cologne, Germany, where he will undergo a post-mission rehabilitation programme under the supervision of the ESA's medical team.
NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX will stream the undocking and splashdown live.
The Ax-4 crew includes American mission commander Peggy Whitson, Indian pilot Shubhanshu Shukla and Hungarian mission specialist Tibor Kapu.
The Polish astronaut’s participation is part of a wider Polish-ESA collaboration to conduct the Ignis mission, a science and technology initiative supported by the Ministry of Development and Technology and coordinated by the Polish Space Agency (POLSA).
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Source: PAP