Last night, a The Axiom Space Mission carrying a private crew has departed from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, bound for the International Space Station. The four-person crew, led by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, flew aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and docked at the ISS at around 9:12 a.m. Eastern time. This is the second time Axiom has shipped paying customers to the ISS. The inaugural flight last year is an important milestone for space tourism. This time, it’s a glimpse into the future of the space station itself.
The years of the ISS are numbered. NASA has committed to supporting the station by 2030, at the time, the agency wanted the first components of a commercial successor. In 2021, the agency contract is assigned to a trio of companies—Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman and Nanoracks—to develop competitive designs. NASA awarded a separate contract to Axiom in 2020 to develop a habitable module for attachment to the ISS, with up to three modules to follow. The first is slated to launch in late 2025, and after NASA and its partners decommission and de-orbit the ISS, Axiom’s modules will split and merge together, become an independent space station.
But in the interim, the space agency’s private passengers and seasoned astronauts will need to learn to live and work together. Over time, as the number of visitors and modules increases, interactions between Axiom passengers and traditional astronauts may change, especially as private customers essentially have rooms. their own orbital hotel. “These missions are very important to us at NASA as we strive to expand space for a larger segment of society. We think the economy in low Earth orbit will continue to expand and that one day NASA will just be a participant in that economy, buying services from private industry,” said Ken Bowersox. , a NASA administrator, said during a joint press conference last week with Axiom and SpaceX officials.
Ax-2, as the spaceflight’s name suggests, is carrying three paying guests for an eight-day stay, along with Commander Whitson, Axiom’s Manned Space Flight Director and will build Her record is that the American has spent the most time in space—665 days. (Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka holds the global record of 878 days.) Other members of the quartet include American racer and businessman John Shoffner, pilot of the Royal Saudi Air Force. Ali AlQarni and biomedical researcher Rayyanah Barnawi. AlQarni and Barnawi were the first Saudis to visit the ISS, and Barnawi was also the first Saudi woman to fly into space. “I am honored and happy to represent all the dreams and hopes of the people in Saudi Arabia and all the women back home,” Barnawi said at a news conference with members remaining members on May 16.
The Saudi government is paying for their tickets and Shoffner is paying for himself. Axiom declined to disclose the exact fare for this flight, although the coveted seats for the Ax-1 in 2022 cost around $55 million each.
The presence of Barnawi and AlQarni aboard Ax-2 will mark a major success for the Saudi Space Commission’s human spaceflight program, which was established by the Saudi government in December. 2018. Agreement of Artemis and launch several telecommunications satellites.
