Business

The International Space Station’s first completely private group of astronauts docked on an orbital platform


An artist’s illustration of Axiom modules attached to the International Space Station.

Axiomatic space

The first completely private group of astronauts ever launched to the International Space Station (ISS) safely arrived at the orbiting research station on Saturday for the start of a weeklong science mission billed as a milestone in commercial space travel.

The rendezvous came about 21 hours after the group of four representing Houston-based startup Axiom Space Inc took off on Friday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, riding atop a Falcon 9 rocket launched by SpaceX launch.

The Crew Dragon capsule into orbit on a rocket docked to the ISS at around 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT) on Saturday when the two space vehicles were flying about 250 miles (420 km) from the center of the Atlantic Ocean, NASA said. webcast about coupling is displayed.

The approach was eventually delayed due to a technical glitch that disrupted the video feed used to track the capsule’s rendezvous with the ISS. The impact forced the Crew Dragon to pause and hold position 20 meters from the station for about 45 minutes while the mission controller fixed the problem.

With docking achieved, it is expected to take about two more hours for the sealed passage between the space station and the crew capsule to be pressurized and tested for leaks before the hatch can be opened, allowing New astronauts aboard the ISS.

The multinational Axiom team, which plans to spend eight days in orbit, is led by retired Spanish-born NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria, 63, the company’s vice president of business development. head.

His second-in-command was Larry Connor, a real estate and technology entrepreneur and aerobatic pilot from Ohio assigned to be the mission pilot. Connor is in his 70s, but the company did not provide his exact age.

Surrounding the Ax-1 crew are Israeli investor-philanthropist and former fighter pilot Eytan Stibbe, 64, and Canadian businessman and philanthropist Mark Pathy, 52, both professionals. mission family.

Stibbe became the second Israeli to fly into space, after Ilan Ramon, who was killed along with six NASA crew members in the 2003 space shuttle Columbia disaster.

They will be joined by ISS occupants of seven regular, government-paid space station crew members – three American astronauts, one German astronaut from the Space Agency. Europe and three Russian cosmonauts.

Science focus

The newcomers brought with them two dozen scientific and biomedical experiments to conduct aboard the ISS, including research into brain health, heart stem cells, cancer and aging, as well as demonstrations of manufacturing technology. optical output using the surface tension of liquids in microgravity.

The mission, the cooperation between Axiom, By Elon Musk rocket company SpaceX and NASA, have been seen by all three as an important step forward in expanding commercial activities in space, referred to by insiders as the low-Earth orbit economy, for short. is the “LEO economy”.

This trend will help the US space agency focus more resources on major scientific discoveries, including the Artemis program to return humans to the moon and eventually to the stars, NASA officials say. Fire.

Although the space station occasionally hosts civilian tourists, the Ax-1 mission marks the first commercial crew of astronauts sent to the ISS for its intended purpose as an orbital research laboratory.

The Axiom mission is also SpaceX’s sixth spaceflight in nearly two years, following four NASA astronaut missions to the space station and September’s “Inspiration 4” launch that brought an all-civilian crew into orbit for the first time. That flight did not dock at the ISS.

Axiom executives say their astronaut projects and plans to build a private space station in Earth’s orbit go far beyond the astrology tourism services offering thrill-seekers. strong feelings of companies like Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, owned by billionaire entrepreneurs. Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson.



Source link

news7f

News7F: Update the world's latest breaking news online of the day, breaking news, politics, society today, international mainstream news .Updated news 24/7: Entertainment, Sports...at the World everyday world. Hot news, images, video clips that are updated quickly and reliably

Related Articles

Back to top button