SpaceX will fly 2 Saudi astronauts to space station on private Axiom Space mission

[Boats]

SpaceX will fly 2 Saudi astronauts to space station on private Axiom Space mission
By: Elisabeth Howell - Space.com News - 11-02-22
Re: https://www.space.com/axiom-space-na...udi-astronauts

The Ax-2 spaceflight crew is complete, although we do not have all the names yet.

Photo link: https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/p2...70-80.jpg.webp
SpaceX's Crew Dragon Endeavour with the Axiom-1 crew docks to the International Space Station on Saturday, April 9, 2022. (Image credit: NASA TV)

The second all-private International Space Station mission now has a complete crew assigned, according to a report.

NASA and Houston-based company Axiom Space have confirmed two Saudi astronauts will join the SpaceX mission, according to SpaceNews(opens in new tab). Ax-2 will send four people to the International Space Station. The mission builds on the first-ever private effort, Ax-1, that launched and landed in April.

The names of the two Saudis on the flight are not public knowledge, said Angela Hart, manager of NASA's commercial LEO development program, at a livestreamed event. "We are working very hard with them on training already," Hart said at the NASA Advisory Council's human exploration and operations committee meeting Tuesday (Nov. 1).

Ax-2 already had two crew members on board: retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson in command, and John Shoffner (a racecar driver and airshow pilot), who paid for his seat as the pilot. The mission is targeted for a spring 2023 arrival at the ISS and will also open the curtain on the burgeoning Saudi astronaut program.

It was only six weeks ago that Saudi Arabia announced that it has started an astronaut program and planned to send two people to space, including at least one woman. The Sept. 22 announcement did say Axiom Space would be the pathway to orbit for the unnamed spaceflyers, but didn't specify the timing; NASA had said at the time the future flyers were pending approval. That approval seems to be confirmed now that the Saudi astronauts are in training with the agency.

These won't be the first Saudi citizens in space, as already one man has achieved orbit: prince Sultan bin Salman Al Saud, who flew on the STS-51-G mission of the space shuttle Discovery in 1985. The inclusion of a woman is notable, as Saudi women tend to enjoy far fewer rights than their male counterparts; for example, Saudi women were forbidden to drive cars until 2018(opens in new tab).

Saudi Arabia is a signatory to the NASA-led Artemis Accords, which aim to create a new framework for international space exploration while landing people and hardware on the moon starting in the 2020s. Axiom has a lunar connection, too, as it will build the moonwalking spacesuits for NASA's crewed Artemis 3 mission that will be the first to touch the surface in 2025 or 2026.

Ax-2's launch will see the four astronauts fly to orbit on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and use a Crew Dragon spacecraft, just like Ax-1. NASA plans to implement some new rules for forthcoming Axiom flights (the agency has already approved an Ax-3 and Ax-4) following some "lessons learned" on the debut mission, the first commercial astronaut one to visit the ISS.

Following some scheduling problems on Axiom's side that required NASA to provide a space station astronaut to complete Ax-1 work, the agency introduced requirements to have all Axiom missions led by a former agency astronaut. NASA will also approve science experiments earlier in the mission planning phase. (Ax-1, by coincidence, was led by Michael López-Alegría, who flew on three space shuttle missions and one ISS expedition as a NASA astronaut.)

SpaceX, the only vendor approved to fly humans to the space station pending certification of Boeing's Starliner, has already sent five operational NASA astronaut missions to the International Space Station. The latest, Crew-5, arrived in early October.

The company received $1.4 billion to conduct five additional astronaut missions to the orbiting lab earlier this year, which will bring its NASA astronaut commitments through Crew-14.

About this writer: Elizabeth Howell, Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022. She was contributing writer for Space.com(opens in new tab) for 10 years before that, since 2012. Elizabeth's reporting includes an exclusive with Office of the Vice-President of the United States, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and (soon) a Bachelor of History from Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science since 2015. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Personal note: It seems the International Space Station has their hands full.
Longer stays in space - plenty of testing - Incoming traffic from Russia and
the United States. It seems that Space X Dragon is leaking coolant but
everyone is ok. Axiom Space a new name I've heard has two Saudi
astronauts coming up by Space X in April 2023. Even a female Saudi
woman - which is something else that shows women are very capable of
space travel. But we've know that for sometime now - its just hard to
admit women having such rights from their Saudia masters. It was
bound to happen - I'm sure she will do fine and contribute to the future
aspirations of other's like her to follow.
-
It seems Axion Space is lining up high payers for flights to the space
statopm mpw and I'm sure if I had the money I'd take a hop up their if
I had the chance.
-
I won't be around to see the Moon colonized - but its an adventure in
itself - and from their to our next planet and soforth. I was bound to
happen - but another world may take generations to get to - and those
of us back on Earth will all be long gone - when that happens.
-