Axiom Mission 1: First Private Astronaut Mission to International Space Station targeted for Launch on April 6th

 Axiom Mission 1: The first all-private astronaut mission to the International Space Station is method for begin from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 6, 2022. The historic mission is a joint alliance between Axiom Space, SpaceX and NASA. 

 

The four-member Ax-1 crew will be  become the first all-private astronaut team ever flown to the space station. The crew will  be travel to the space station on the SpaceX dragon endeavour spacecraft. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket will be used for the launch of the spacecraft. 

The begin is being hailed by Axiom, NASA and other stakeholders as a turning point in the latest spread of commercial space ventures.

Axiom Space Mission 1 (Ax-1 Mission)

• The Axiom Mission 1 will be spend 8 days on the International Space Station, conducting scientific research, outreach and commercial activities. The total duration of the mission will be 10 days. 
• The Axiom Mission 1 will be  carry a former NASA astronaut and three US crew process . 
• The mission will be commanded by retired NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria, who will be making his 5th visit to space and third visit to the space station.
• The other crew process involve mission pilot Larry Connor and Mission Specialists Eytan Stibbe and Mark Pathy. 
• NASA has close the flight readiness review for the Ax-1 mission and the teams are proceeding toward the begin of the first private astronaut mission to the ISS.  
• The purpose of the review was to assess the readiness of the ISS to execute the AX-1 mission involve arrival, docking and in-orbit operations and undocking. 
• The Axiom Mission 1 crew will be sharing workspace with seven regular crew members of the ISS, including three US astronauts, three Russian jock and one German astronaut. 
• NASA and Axiom Space had signed an order for the first private astronaut mission to the ISS. 

Know Axiom Mission 1 Crew Members

Michael Lopez-Alegria: The 63-year-old is a Spanish mission head and Axiom's vice president of business growth .

Larry Connor: He is a real estate and technology entrepreneur and aerobatics aviator from Ohio. He is in his 70s. 

Eytan Stibbe: The 64-year-old is an investor-philanthropist and a former Israeli fighter pilot. He will be become the second-ever Israeli to go to space behind Ilan Ramon, who was one of the six NASA astronauts who died in the tragic 2003 Colombia Space Shuttle Disaster.

Mark Pathy: The 52-year-old is a Canadian businessman and philanthropist.

Significance

While the Axiom Mission 1 has been compared to the recent private space missions by Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic by billionaires Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson, respectively, Axiom Commander Lopez-Alegria said that their mission is more substantive. 

The Axiom team has undergone extensive astronaut training with both NASA and SpaceX and will be carry meaningful biomedical research. The Ax-1 crew will be carry equipment and supplies for 26 science and robotic experiments to be conducted during their stay at the space station. 

The experiments involve research on brain fitness , cancer, cardiac stem cells and aging as well as a robotic demonstration to create optics using the surface tension of fluids in microgravity.

Background

The International Space Station has been always occupied since 2000 below the US-Russia-led partnership inculcated 13 other nation . The ISS was begin into orbit in 1998. 

While the space station has had civilian visitors before , the Ax-1 team will be the first all-commercial team of astronauts to use the ISS for its intended purpose as an orbiting laboratory.

Axiom has a contract with Elon Musk's SpaceX to fly three more missions to orbit over the next two years. NASA had chosen Houston-based space startup Axiom in 2020 to design and growth a new trading wing of the space station.