The Crew Dragon Freedom shuttle has returned to Earth with Walter Villadei, colonel of the Air Force and the eighth Italian to have been in orbit, on board.
47 hours after detachment from the International Space Station, the Ax-3 mission shuttle, the third private one to reach the ISS, landed as scheduled at 2.29pm Italian time in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Daytona Beach in Florida. bringing back to earth after 21 days the crew composed of commander Michael Lopez-Alegria, Villadei in the role of pilot, the Swede Marcus Wandt of the European Space Agency and the Turkish Alper Gezeravci.
The shuttle left the ISS on January 7 after a stay of approximately 18 days during which the 4 astronauts carried out a series of 56 experiments and activities in space.
This concludes the experience of Villadei, the eighth Italian in space and protagonist of Volunta, a mission born from the joint effort between the Presidency of the Council, the Ministries of Defence, Business and Made in Italy, Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and of Forests, the Italian Space Agency and the Air Force, alongside research centres, universities and industries.
During his 435 hours on board the ISS Villadei completed 288 orbits around the Earth, traveling over 12 million kilometers and carrying out 30 scientific experiments, 13 of which were Italian.
Precisely in the last days of the stay on the Space Station, one of the six experiments of the Air Force was completed, which aimed to verify how microgravity influences the functioning of the cells that line the internal walls of the blood vessels.
The Air Force welcomed back Colonel Walter Villadei who - we read in a note from the Armed Forces - saw him carry out "experimentation activities in microgravity with positive repercussions for the entire country system".
"The participation of the Air Force in this international mission, with a strong European connotation, has made it possible to involve new subjects, both public and private, in a sector, the space sector, which is currently subject to new expansion", comments the Chief of the General Staff, general of the Air Squadron, Luca Goretti.
"This - he underlines - confirmed the key role that the Arma Azzurra has in this domain, in which it is already strongly committed both with the experience of human space flight and with capabilities related to its safety. The Air Force puts its professionalism and skills available to the scientific, technical and industrial community, for the benefit of the entire country system".
Congratulations to Villadei also from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
"I thank him - he writes on social media - for having witnessed, with pride and enthusiasm, the participation of the Italian institutions and of the entire scientific, academic and industrial community in the numerous research activities conducted on the Space Station. With the awareness that each of these activities will contribute to strengthening Italy's role in the space economy and promoting the excellence that our nation is able to express."
"The mission, which I had the honor of seeing start in Florida, enabled by Axiom, NASA and Space page of history with Italy as the protagonist", writes the Undersecretary of Defense Matteo Perego of Cremnago.
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