The trip, organized by Houston-based Axiom Space, was the second private mission to the ISS. The first was in early April 2022. The AX-2 mission also made history as the crew included stem cell researcher Rayyanah Barnawi, the first woman from Saudi Arabia to travel to space.
The crew of the AX-2. Photo: CNN
The crew boarded the SpaceX rocket on Sunday afternoon (May 21). Florida is entering a humid summer, making the launch a bit more difficult.
The crew is expected to spend the next 16 hours flying freely through Earth's orbit, performing careful maneuvers to align itself with the International Space Station. The spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the ISS at 9:24 a.m. ET Monday.
The AX-2 mission is one that Axiom Space and NASA hope will help further advance space tourism , especially in low Earth orbit.
The AX-2 crew is led by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, 63, now an Axiom employee. With this mission, Ms. Whitson also becomes the first woman to command a private spaceflight.
One of the three paying customers was John Shoffner, an American who was in the international telecommunications business and founded the hardware company Dura-Line Corp.
Saudi Arabia also paid for two citizens on the flight, Ms. Barnawi and Mr. Ali AlQarni, a fighter pilot in the Royal Saudi Air Force.
“I am very honored and happy to represent all the dreams and all the hopes of the people and especially the women of Saudi Arabia,” Barnawi told reporters last week.
After docking with the ISS early Monday, the AX-2 crew will join seven other astronauts who are living and working professionally and long-term on the ISS.
During that time, they will participate in 20 research and scientific projects, involving stem cells and other biomedical research.
Trung Kien (according to CNN)
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