The mission, called AX-1 from the private American company Axiom Space -which is developing its own module for the ISS-, will travel to the International Space Station in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. NASA had just revealed new details of what will be the first civilian astronauts to travel to the ISS in 2022.
The AX-1 will launch on a Falcon 9 rocket from NAS A’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida scheduled for March 30, the US space agency said in a statement. Crew Dragon will take the Axiom crew to the ISS where they will stay for eight days . If all goes according to plan, they will become the first civilian astronauts to set foot in the orbiting laboratory.
Each of them has spent 55 million dollars (about 48 million euros) on their individual ticket to the ISS.
a spanish commander
NASA has approved who will be the four crew members of Axiom Mission 1. NASA astronaut and vice president of Axiom Space, Miguel López-Alegría (of Spanish origin and former NASA astronaut), will act as mission commander, along with Larry Connor (American businessman) as pilot and Mark Pathy (Canadian philanthropist) and Eytan Stibbe (former Israeli fighter pilot) as mission specialists. All of them will spend eight days on board the orbiting laboratory carrying out scientific, educational and commercial activities.
NASA Director of Commercial Spaceflight Phil McAlister has stated that this is a major step forward in his efforts to develop a low-Earth orbit economy, wishing Axiom crew members safe travels and enjoying their time in space. the space.
The Ax-1 crew has been training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, USA, and other NASA facilities since August 2021 to become familiar with station systems, science facilities, and procedures. of emergency. Once the eight days aboard the ISS are over, they will splash down off the coast of Florida.
The US space agency has confirmed that these joint simulations would continue for the next few months , in preparation for the launch on March 30.
The exact goals of the four AX-1 mission crew members are unknown, as final proposals won’t be approved until closer to flight day, according to NASA. What Axiom Space has revealed is that the astronauts will bring to the station technology built by the Israeli company Aleph Farms , which consists of converting the cells extracted from a cow into raw meat by growing the cells in the laboratory and converting them into muscle, fat and other components, as we already talked about in MUY regarding the most recent in vitro meat initiatives.
Likewise, late last year, NASA again selected Axiom Space for the second private astronaut mission to the space station. In this case, Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) is scheduled for release between fall 2022 and late spring 2023.
Reference: NASA
