If all goes according to plan, Spanish-American astronaut Michael López-Alegría will bring the first private crew to the International Space Station on Sunday. For the former NASA astronaut, the upcoming fifth trip to space has a very special meaning. “It feels like we are flag bearers,” the 63-year-old said at a news conference recently.
Individual space tourists have been on the ISS several times, but the so-called Ax-1 mission is the first completely private crew. The flight is being organized by the private space company Axiom in collaboration with the American space agency NASA. The flight will take place in a “Crew Dragon” (pictured below) from Elon Musk’s company SpaceX from the Cape Canaveral cosmodrome in Florida. The four Axiom planes will stay in the ISS for about a week.
Tickets for 50 million euros
According to media reports, the crew members – American entrepreneur Larry Connor, Israeli entrepreneur and pilot Eytan Stibbe and Canadian investor Mark Pathy – each paid about $55 million (about $50 million) for the flight. They are “ready to fly” and all feel “like kids in a candy store”, says López-Alegría – but at the same time emphasizes: “We are not space tourists. I think space tourism plays an important role, but that’s not what it’s about here.” This is certainly not a vacation for my crew members.”
26 experiments are planned
This is also underlined by Axiom boss Michael Suffredini. “They don’t fly there to stick their noses at the window. They fly there to do important scientific work.” Twenty-six experiments are planned, said Kathy Lueders, head of NASA’s Manned Space Program. “Our crew members are very excited about the arrival of this private astronaut team.”
First of “probably hundreds of missions”
Working with Axiom is important for everyone involved. Founded in 2016 in Houston, Texas by former NASA executive Suffredini and Iranian-American entrepreneur Kam Ghaffarian, the company sees itself as a future player in the space market. It is planning its own commercial space station and has already been commissioned by NASA to build a commercial ISS module. “This is now the very first of probably hundreds of missions over the next decade,” Suffredini said.
“It doesn’t feel very different to fly for a company or for a country,” said Commander López-Alegría. “Our focus is always on safety and the success of the mission.” However, the AX-1 mission now comes at a time of extreme tension between Russia and the West over the war in Ukraine. The crew did not train in Russia and not in relation to the Russian part of the space station, López-Alegría says – and is diplomatic. You don’t want to disrupt operations on the space station under any circumstances. “We are well aware that we are guests on the ISS.”
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
