The first private crewed mission to the International Space Station is scheduled to launch in February of 2022. From left to right are pilot Larry Connor, mission commander and retired NASA astronauts Michael Lpez-Alegra and Mark Pathy, and mission specialist Eytan Stibbe. The image is from Axiom Space.
Next year, the first private crewed mission to the International Space Station will take place, and the astronauts have cleared their medical evaluations.
The four-person crew was approved by NASA and its international partners. According to a statement from NASA, the crew includes Michael Lpez-Alegra, Larry Connor, Mark Pathy and Eytan Stibbe. The crew was approved by NASA and the Multilateral Crew Operations Panel, a coalition of five international space agencies that decides who flies to the International Space Station and each crew member's role for the mission.
We've made great progress on our first private astronauts mission. The Multilateral Crew Operations Panel cleared the medicalevals of the astronauts and they were approved by them.
Space tourism took a giant leap in 2021.
We've made great progress on our first private astronauts mission. The Multilateral Crew Operations Panel approved the medicalevals of the astronauts. December 20, 2021.
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The Multilateral Crew Operations Panel approval and passing of medical evaluations are major milestones in sending the first private astronauts to the space station.
Lpez-Alegra will be the mission commander, Pathy will be the mission specialists, and the pilot will be Connor. Lpez-Alegra is the Vice President of Axiom Space and has flown to space four times before. Connor is an American investor. Pathy is a Canadian businessman and philanthropist, while Stibbe is an investor and former Israeli Air Force pilot.
The crew will be doing microgravity experiments during their eight-day mission aboard the ISS. There are 25 experiments that will focus on science, education and outreach. Some of the planned research projects are the result of long-time partnerships with Cleveland Clinic and the Mayo Clinic.
NASA gave the go-ahead for a second crewed mission to the space station. The flight is aiming to launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida between late 2022. Four crewed missions to the International Space Station will be launched using Crew Dragon and Falcon 9 rockets.
The Houston-based company's long-term plan is to expand access to low Earth orbit, and one of the companies working to build a commercial space station to succeed the International Space Station is Axiom.
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