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They will be led by a former NASA astronaut who now works for Axiom Space, the Houston company that organized the trip for next January.
“This is the first private flight to the International Space Station. It’s never been done before, “said Axiom CEO and President Mike Suffredini, former director of NASA’s space station program.
While mission commander Michael Lopez-Alegria is well known in space circles, “the other three are just people who want to be able to go into space, and we are providing that opportunity,” Suffredini told The Associated Press.
Happy to see another important step in the commercial space. Our little corps of astronauts @csa_asc has had a great exchange… https://t.co/sCnqvOadEn
Jeremy R. Hansen @Astro_Jeremy 1611681525000
The first crew will spend eight days on the space station, and it will take a day or two to arrive aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule after takeoff from Cape Canaveral.
Russia has been in the off-planet tourism business for years, selling trips to the International Space Station since 2001. Other space companies like Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin plan to take paying customers up and down. . flights that last only a few minutes. These much more affordable trips with seats running in the hundreds of thousands versus millions could begin this year.
Axiom’s early clients include Larry Connor, a real estate and technology entrepreneur from Dayton, Ohio, Canadian financier Mark Pathy and Israeli businessman Eytan Stibbe, a close friend of Israel’s first astronaut Ilan Ramon, who died in the crash. space shuttle Columbia in 2003.
“All of these guys are very involved and doing it to improve their communities and countries, so we couldn’t be happier with this first team composition because of their drive and interest,” Suffredini said.
Each of these first paying customers intends to conduct scientific research in orbit, he said, along with educational outreach.
López-Alegría, a former resident of the space station and leader of spacewalks, called the group a “collection of pioneers.” Tom Cruise was mentioned last year as a potential crew member; Senior NASA officials confirmed that he was interested in shooting a movie on the space station. There was no word Tuesday on whether Cruise will take the next Axiom flight. Suffredini declined to comment.
Each of the private astronauts had to pass medical tests and will receive 15 weeks of training, according to Suffredini. Connor, 70, will become the second oldest person to fly into space, after John Glenn’s shuttle flight in 1998 at age 77. He will also serve under López-Alegría as the capsule pilot.
Axiom plans to conduct two private missions a year to the space station. It is also working to launch its own compartments to live in the station starting in 2024. This section would be separated from the station once NASA and international partners retire it and become its own private outpost.
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