Warm hugs and thanks on the International Space Station in the farewell ceremony with which Walter Villadei and the other members of the Ax-3 mission said goodbye in view of the next return to Earth (the date of which is still being defined based on the forecast weather for the return off the coast of Florida).
After two weeks of intense work in orbit, the four members of the private Ax-3 mission received congratulations from the commander of Expedition 70, Andreas Mogensen of the European Space Agency, and in turn did not fail to thank the crew for their support received.
Air Force Colonel Walter Villadei himself began by thanking "the crew of Expedition 70, so welcoming and supportive during these two weeks".
Thoughts then went to NASA, Axiom and Space X, which enabled the mission, and above all to Italy.
“I would like to thank the Air Force and the Italian Government for believing in this mission,” Villadei said.
"In these two weeks we have brought on board technology, innovation and science from Italy and Europe".
At the end he obviously also thanked his mission companions, the Swede Marcus Wandt of ESA, the first Turkish astronaut Alper Gezeravci and Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria of Axiom Space.
“I would like to say thank you for these two weeks of work with the Ax-3 crew, it has been fantastic, it is a great privilege to be here.”
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