In the recent blog post by NASA, the space agency, together with its international partners, officially announced their approval of Axiom Space's first private astronaut mission to the International Space Station.
Amusingly, Axiom Space explained that they uses human spaceflight engineering.
NASA Approves Axiom Space's First Private Astronaut Mission
The mission, dubbed Axiom Mission 1 or Ax-1, is scheduled to fly on a flight-proven SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 30.
The crew of the Ax-1 will travel to and from the space station on the Crew Dragon Endeavour.
The Ax-1 crew will land near the coast of Florida after a ten-day stay in orbit.
NASA's director of commercial spaceflight Phil McAlister stated on the said blog post that this is a huge step forward in their efforts to develop a low-Earth orbit economy, wishing the members of the Axiom crew safe travels and hope that they enjoy their time in space.
Science Focus explained that the crew will do science, education, and outreach research, adding that each member will focus on a different aspect of crucial research.
With regards to the said crew, NASA disclosed that the mission will include Axiom Space astronauts Michael López-Alegría, Larry Connor, Mark Pathy, and Eytan Stibbe.
To further emphasize, the mission commander will be José López-Alegra, a former NASA astronaut while the pilot will be Connor from Dayton, Ohio.
Meanwhile, the mission specialists will be Pathy, from Canada, and Stibbe, from Israel.
Before returning to Earth, the four will spend eight days undertaking science, teaching, and commercial operations onboard the orbiting laboratory.
Amusingly, during Pathy's time on the ISS, he will collaborate with six Canadian colleges and two tech businesses.
Two-way holoportation - a mixed reality app for special lenses that uses two-way 3D projections as a hologram to converse - will be investigated.
However, the space agency clarified that the proposed mission operations are still being reviewed and will need to be approved before they can be flown.
Axiom recently unveiled a microgravity research portfolio that the Ax-1 crew plans to pursue in space in collaboration with a number of Earth-based organizations.
Axiom Space Uses Single Human Spaceflight Engineering
According to Axiom Space, they help nations develop human spaceflight programs and send people to space using their unique human spaceflight engineering, training, operations, and program management capabilities.
These programs help to create high-tech firms, stimulate the economy, motivate young people to pursue STEM education, and are a source of national pride and worldwide respect.
On the other hand, since August 2021, the Ax-1 crew has been undergoing training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and other NASA locations to become familiar with station operations, scientific facilities, and emergency procedures.
In preparation for the trip, the crew has been training with NASA's international space station partners at ESA (European Space Agency), as well as with launch contractor SpaceX at its facilities in Hawthorne, California, and other locations.
In December, the NASA and Axiom mission operations teams began conducting combined simulations to familiarize themselves with the dynamic portions of the private astronauts' voyage to and from the space station.
