Private astronauts dock and then seriously crowd onto the space station

The largest laboratory in the sky has become more crowded.

The first all-private expedition to the International Space Station arrived Saturday morning. While the International Space Station was flying over the Atlantic Ocean, private astronauts Michael Lopez-Alegria, Larry Connor, Eytan Stibbe, and Mark Pathy opened the hatch of the Crew Dragon spaceship. Time.

Maybe a new group photo showing some spaceflight-lagged and cabin-fever-weary faces says it all.

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The crew of the Axiom will spend 10 days on the space station conducting scientific experiments using the lab's unique microgravity environment and participating in other commercial activities.

For decades, that title was reserved for government space pilots and crew. The distinction of breaching Earth's atmosphere has recently been given to space tourists riding the likes of Blue Origin.

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Someone trained and launched into space to perform commercial scientific research is a third possible description.

The difference between space tourists and private astronauts is something that needs to be addressed, according to the pilot of the mission. Depending on our role, we have spent anywhere from 750 to over 1,000 hours training.

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The space station now has a party of 11 with the four Axiom astronauts on board. The space station was designed to support six people, but NASA says it can support other visitors too. The space station is only about the size of a five-bedroom home.

The crew had to reorient the camera to fit the space station residents in the frame before the official public broadcast began.

It is not a record. The baker's dozen are the most people to stay on the space station at one time. During the Space Shuttle program, theOccupancy rose to 13 people three times.

Three NASA astronauts, Raja Chari, and Thomas Marshburn, as well as one European Space Agency astronauts, and three ROScosmos cosmonauts, are currently in the room.

What were the reactions of the newcomers to the views?

Lopez-Alegria, the Axiom mission, I could hear them say expletive deleted as soon as they looked out the window. It is an amazing experience.

Guess you have to use your imagination.