The International Space Station is about to get a new astronauts mission.
The mission from Houston-based company, Axiom Space, was launched by a Falcon 9 rocket. The Kennedy Space Center is located on Florida's Space Coast.
None of the crew members are government spaceflyers. It is the first fully private crewed mission to launch.
Jon Rackham said during a webcast of the launch that a new chapter begins.
The International Space Station will be home to the crew for eight days after their 10-day journey. The space station is about to get a new Dragon capsule around 7:45 a.m. Tomorrow (April 9) is the day.
The first stage of the Falcon 9 was marked by the fifth flight. The fifth landing of the booster was a perfect one, coming down in the Atlantic Ocean just after liftoff.
There is a private mission to the space station.
It has been a year and a half since we started working on the mission, which is something that has never been done before.
Michael Lopez-Alegr is the vice president of business development for Axiom. He launched with mission pilot Larry Connor and mission specialists Eytan and Mark Pathy.
The founding partner of the Vital Capital Impact investment fund is a pilot with 16 different aircraft, as well as the CEO and chair of the Canadian sustainable investment company MARVIK.
The second Israeli person to reach space will be the fighter pilot of the Israel Air Force. Ilan Ramon died during the space shuttle Columbia tragedy. The Ramon family co-founded the Ramon Foundation in Ramon's memory.
Commander López-Alegría did not pay for his place on the mission and will help guide the other crew members through the voyage. The three other crewmates are thought to have spent around $55 million on his seat.
The three paying customers are not "space tourists", according to the mission team members.
"Ax-1 is too often called space tourism, and I would say it is not tourism at all."
This is a real work that requires a lot of preparation, and I don't think it will be relaxing.
Other team members have echoed this sentiment.
The crew is very well trained and have spent hundreds of hours preparing for the flight, according to record-setting former NASA astronauts.
Meet the crew.
The crew is going to conduct 25 different scientific experiments during the mission. Among the experiments is a brain headset from Israeli startup Brain.Space. This experiment is one of many that is being brought on behalf of the Ramon Foundation.
Hassmann shared yesterday that the experiments of the Ax-1 crew will look at other topics, including aging, stem cells, heart health and more.
Michael Suffredini, president and CEO of Axiom, said that this really does represent the first step, where a bunch of individuals who want to do something meaningful in low Earth orbit that aren't members of a government are able to take this opportunity.
The first fully private crewed mission to the space station is not just the first crewed launch for Axiom. It is the first major step towards realizing its own commercial space station in low Earth orbit, which is set to be the first of its kind.
Hassmann said that the company was formed in order to build the next space station. He said that the mission is to build that station.
The first module of the commercial space station is planned to be launched in late 2024. It will be connected to the International Space Station and will gradually build out that space station between that period for 2024 into 2030 with the goal of eventually separating and providing the commercial LEO destination of choice once the International Space Station has been retired.
The first of several that will lead up to the module launch is this one.
The first fully private crewed mission to the International Space Station is not the first all-civilian journey to space. The Inspiration4 mission was launched in September of 2021.
If you want to follow her, email her at cgohd@space.com. Follow us on social media.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
