Axiom Space Will Finally Launch To The Space Station To Experiment

NASA) finally approved a private mission to be carried out by Axiom Space (photo: Doc. NASA Gov)

JAKARTA - After waiting for years, the American National Space Agency (NASA) has finally approved a private mission that will be carried out by Axiom Space to go to the International Space Station (ISS).

Axiom Space is a private space company that aims to not only provide commercial flights to the ISS, but ultimately own and operate its own private space station. The mission, called Axiom Mission 1, will see four travelers sent to the ISS.

"NASA and its international partners have approved the crew of Axiom Mission 1 for the first private astronaut mission to the ISS through the Multilateral Crew Operations Panel," NASA said.

They include former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría, who flew on three Space Shuttle missions and previously stayed on the ISS for one. He also holds the record for the most space travel hours spent by an American, totaling 67 hours in the 10 space trips he made during his career.

In addition to López-Alegría, the crew of Larry Connor, Mark Pathy, and Eytan Stibbe, from the US, Canada and Israel respectively. All crew that will go to the ISS have completed medical examinations.

Axion Mission 1 will launch on February 28, 2022, with an eight-day stay on the Earth-orbiting station. According to Axiom Space, the crew will conduct research during their stay there.

“Ax-1 crew members will dedicate their eight-day mission to the ISS conducting innovative research developed for microgravity on behalf of large organizations ranging from hospitals to technology companies. Important findings from an extensive series of experiments will return to Earth and mankind," explained Axiom Space on its official website.

From the report quoted by Slashgear, Wednesday, December 22, Axiom Space had to spend 55 million US dollars for a 10-day mission to the ISS, which includes travel costs to and from the station, stay at the station itself, and training for the mission.

For your information, the ISS has been the setting for various private missions in recent months, including a Russian film crew and actress working on a film partly shot in space, and most recently a recent trip by three Japanese space tourists.