Axiom Space, SpaceX and NASA previously partnered in April 2022 to launch the first fully private manned mission, Ax-1, from US soil. The trip was supposed to take 10 days, but the four crewmates ended up staying aboard the ISS for another week when bad weather at the landing site delayed their return home.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson described the trip as an “important step in opening up opportunities for space travelers and achieving NASA’s goal of enabling commercial business off-planet in low-Earth orbit.”
NASA’s Russian counterpart, Roscosmos, has also organized privately funded trips to the ISS over the years, but those missions always included a working cosmonaut.
NASA, in partnership with Axiom Space and SpaceX, is making final preparations for the second all-private mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
The four Ax-2 crew members will travel to the station aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule launched by a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Mission planners are currently targeting the afternoon of Sunday, May 21 for the launch of the private mission.
The crew members: Peggy Whitson, mission commander and director of human spaceflight for Axiom; John Shoffner, pilot; Ali Alqarni, mission specialist; and Rayyanah Barnawi, mission specialist, will spend about 10 days aboard the orbital outpost, living and working alongside the current crew of seven astronauts.
Whitson is a former American astronaut who participated in three long-duration space flights during which she accumulated 665 days in space, more than any other American astronaut or female astronaut globally.
Shoffner is a successful American businessman and investor, while Alqarni, an experienced pilot, and Barnawi, a biomedical researcher, will become the first people from Saudi Arabia to visit the ISS.
Each seat aboard Axiom Space’s private missions is believed to cost around $50 million, either out of pocket or through funding.
The mission
During their time in microgravity conditions, Ax-2 members will conduct various scientific investigations, investigate new technologies, and interact with audiences around the world in an effort to inspire interest in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and more. and math.
Part of his job also involves laying the groundwork and identifying the key capabilities required for Axiom Station, a commercial space station developed by Axiom Space that could become operational before the end of this decade.
The Ax-2 crew members recently completed an intensive training period to familiarize them with the interior of the space station. They are now in a two-week quarantine period to make sure they don’t take any bugs with them to the ISS.
Axiom Space, SpaceX and NASA previously partnered in April 2022 to launch the first fully private crewed mission, Ax-1, from US soil. The trip was supposed to take 10 days, but the four crewmates ended up staying aboard the ISS for another week when bad weather at the landing site delayed their return home.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson described the trip as an “important step in opening up opportunities for space travelers and achieving NASA’s goal of enabling commercial business off-planet in low-Earth orbit.”
NASA’s Russian counterpart, Roscosmos, has also organized privately funded trips to the ISS over the years, but those missions always included a working cosmonaut.
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