The private trade mission Axiom-3 It is already flying to the International Space Station (ISS) after successfully taking off this Thursday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Commanded by the Spanish-American Michael López-Alegría, the mission of the American company Axion Space, took off with four crew members on board at 4:49 p.m. local time (9:49 p.m. Spanish peninsular time) from Cape Canaveral (Florida, USA) and will aim carry out more than thirty scientific experiments in microgravity on the ISS, among others on stem cells or cancer.
The crew, which will remain at the orbital outpost for 14 days, is completed by the Italian Walter Villadei (pilot), and the specialists Alper Gezeravci, the first Turk to travel to space, and Marcus Wandt, from Sweden. The ship took off at the scheduled time in a capsule Dragon 8 meters high propelled by a rocket Falcon 9 reusable two-stage and 70 meters, both from Elon Musk’s private commercial company SpaceX. Just three minutes later, the ship entered space at a speed of 3,500 km/h and detached itself from the reusable stage one, which completed its return flight to successfully land on a floating platform in the Atlantic, off the Florida coast. And about 15 minutes later the second stage of the rocket was released, at which time the four astronauts smiled and raised their thumbs.
”Congratulations to Axiom and SpaceX on a successful launch! “Together with our commercial partners, NASA is supporting a growing commercial space economy and the future of space technology,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement Thursday. Nelson highlighted that this is “the first fully European commercial astronaut mission to the space station”, proof that “the possibility of space unites us all.”
The commercial mission crew, which is sponsored by the European Space Agency (ESA), will carry out scientific research related to life sciences, human psychology and industrial technological advances. Some of the results could be used to identify new therapies in the fight, for example, against cancer, at an early stage, when it is still curable.
If all goes well, 36 hours after takeoff from Cape Canaveral, at 9:49 a.m. on Saturday (Spanish peninsular time), the capsule will dock with the Station, which has been in orbit since 1998 and will operate until 2030. The hatches are expected to between Dragon and the ISS will open after 11:00, allowing the Axiom crew to enter the station to be welcomed by its seven occupants with a welcome ceremony and begin their stay in the orbital laboratory.
Here’s a special message from #Ax3 Mission Commander Michael Lopez-Joy. MLA is an accomplished astronaut and leader. The #Ax3 mission is his second commercial mission serving as commander. MLA will make history as the first-ever person to ride aboard a SpaceX Dragon twice! pic.twitter.com/3Dmk7fbMWJ
— Axiom Space (@Axiom_Space) January 18, 2024
The Axiom-3 astronauts will leave the space station on February 3, as scheduled, depending on weather conditions, to return to Earth and land off the coast of Florida. The private mission will also help advance the private development and use of the ISS in this new era and create a strong and sustainable market in low Earth orbit (LEO). This is the fifth flight of the first stage booster of the Falcon 9 and the third of the spaceship Dragon, with capacity for seven passengers and transporting significant cargo to Earth. Madrid astronaut López-Alegría, 65, had already led Axiom’s first commercial mission in 2022, when he spent 17 days on the ISS. On this occasion he will remain on the aforementioned space station for two weeks. It is his sixth mission to space, after three missions on NASA’s space shuttle and a flight on the Soyuz Russian
The reusable rocket Falcon 9 It is priced at $67 million and the SpaceX company offers discounts for multiple launch purchases, as well as crew transportation services to commercial customers looking to transport astronauts to LEO. Axiom Space was created in 2016 to exploit the emerging market for commercial activities in low Earth orbit, from tourism to manufacturing. The private commercial company plans to operate its own space station, which it will begin building as part of the ISS and with the goal of launching its first module in 2026.
The mission was scheduled to take off this Wednesday, but those responsible postponed the launch to complete a final review and data analysis on the vehicle. NASA’s efforts, including private astronaut missions, are opening access to low-Earth orbit for private industry, allowing the American agency to become one of many customers of a thriving commercial economy in space.
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