Crew Dragon, SpaceX’s human-carrying capsule, is about to send the first private citizens into space.
On Tuesday, Axiom Space unveiled the four crew members he selected for his AX-1 mission. This is expected to be the first mission to ever fly a crew entirely of private citizens to the International Space Station. The AX-1 mission will not take place earlier than January 2022. The plan is to send the passengers to the space station for an eight-day stay.
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This is a big step forward for the Crew Dragon, designed by SpaceX as a way to transport passengers between Earth and the International Space Station. Although SpaceX is primarily intended for NASA astronauts, SpaceX intends to use it for private citizens to travel to space as well.
Crew Dragon is the product of the NASA Commercial Crew program, which commissioned SpaceX and Boeing to develop a human capsule. After the shuttle program ended in 2011, NASA leased seats on Soyuz rockets launched from Kazakhstan. While Crew Dragon took six people to two spaceships in May and November 2020, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner has yet to support a mission with crew.
So who flies on AX-1?
Michael López-Alegría – The mission commander. López-Alegría, born in Madrid, Spain, emigrated to the United States as a child and settled in Washington, DC. He is a former NASA astronaut and now vice president of Axiom Space. He has visited the station four times during his 20-year career with the agency, but this is the first time he has been in the space station since 2007. He will be the first person to ever command a civilian and commercial human spaceflight.
López-Alegría has had an impressive career. During his four trips to the station (spacecraft missions STS-73, STS-92, STS-113 and Soyuz mission TMA-9) he earned the NASA record for most spacewalks (10).
He also holds the record for the longest cumulative extravehicular activity time of 67 hours and 40 minutes.
Larry Connor – The pilot. Connor, a real estate and technology entrepreneur from Dayton, Ohio, is CEO of the real estate investment firm Connor Group. He is something of an exciting seeker, with an impressive history of racing, rafting, flying and mountaineering – he has successfully completed Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2007.
Although the mission will undoubtedly satisfy his taste for adventure, he plans to use his time at the space station to assist medical experts at the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic with research.
Mark Pathy – Canada’s 11th Astronaut. An investor and philanthropist, Pathy is CEO of Mavrik, an investment firm in Montreal. He is also chairman of the media and technology firm Stingray Group. Pathy is a philanthropist and a member of the board of the Pathy Family Foundation.
Ethyan Stibbe – Israel’s second astronaut, after Ilan Ramon – who died in his first spaceflight when the Columbia spacecraft disbanded again in 2003. Stibbe is the founding partner of the Vital Capital Impact Investment Fund. He served with Ramon in the Israeli Air Force, and the pair served in Squadron 117 during the 1991 Gulf War.
Stibbe is a founder of the Ramon Foundation, founded after Ilan’s son Asaf died in a training accident in 2009. The foundation is the first non-profit organization to send an astronaut to the space station. Stibbe will conduct experiments in space on behalf of the foundation and educational activities aimed at inspiring a new generation.
“This collection of pioneers – the first spacecraft of its kind – represents a decisive moment in mankind’s eternal pursuit of exploration and progress,” López-Alegría said in a statement.
“I know from first-hand experience that what people encounter in space is deep and compels them to make more meaningful contributions upon returning to Earth.”
What’s next – SpaceX has a complete schedule of missions planned. The “Crew-2” mission will be the second fly for Crew Dragon that has not been tested. Comments from NASA suggest that the flight may take place in early 2021.
The astronauts contain the following:
- NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough, born in Killeen, Texas.
- NASA astronaut Megan McArthur, born in Honolulu, Hawaii.
- European space agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet, born in Rouen, France.
- The astronaut of the Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, born in Tokyo, Japain.
The “Crew-3” mission, expected at the end of 2021, will send the following astronauts:
- ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer, born in Sankt Wendel, Germany.
- NASA astronaut Raja Chari, born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
- NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn, born in Statesville, North Carolina.
- An unknown fourth crew member.
Depending on the timing, AX-1 may not get the honor as the first Crew Dragon mission with private citizens. Washington Adventures, DC-based Space Adventures, announced plans in February 2020 to send up to four citizens into space. The launch window runs from late 2021 to mid 2022.
Previous reports also suggest that future Crew Dragon passengers may include movie star Tom Cruise, who is expected to take the first feature film in space, and director Doug Liman.
Sending NASA astronauts to the space station is just the beginning.
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