Photo: Axiom
Slowly but surely, and for the remainder of its years in orbit, the International Space Station (ISS) has opened its airlocks to pretty much all those interested, able, and willing to visit it. We’ve already had a Russian film crew go up to the station, but also an American private astronaut mission, and more are on the horizon.
Back in April this year, a company called Axiom flew non-career astronauts to the ISS, where they spent 17 days performing “extensive research and STEM outreach.” That was the beginning, it seems, as Axom is already planning a second mission, which was already greenlit by NASA for the second quarter of 2023.
Dubbed Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2), the flight will lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with the crew scheduled to spend ten days in orbit (an additional contingency week is taken into account).
The names of the ones going have not yet been made public, but as per the rules NASA abides by, at least one of them, which will be the mission commander, should be a previously flown NASA astronaut. The rest of the crew will have to undergo training with NASA and SpaceX (which is the provider of the space launch vehicle).
It’s not clear at this point what kind of activities they’ll perform while up there, but given how Axiom is planning to build its own orbital outpost, gaining experience with space operations is a safe bet.
"Axiom Space’s Ax-2 mission builds upon the success of Ax-1, which demonstrated our team’s ability to work collaboratively with our partners at NASA and SpaceX to plan and execute a complex human spaceflight mission,” said in a statement Derek Hassmann, Axiom’s chief of Mission Integration and Operations.
"Our new Ax-2 crew, together with a full mission manifest of science, outreach, and commercial activities, will continue to increase utilization of the International Space Station National Laboratory and demonstrate to the world the benefits of commercial space missions for all humanity.”
Dubbed Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2), the flight will lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with the crew scheduled to spend ten days in orbit (an additional contingency week is taken into account).
The names of the ones going have not yet been made public, but as per the rules NASA abides by, at least one of them, which will be the mission commander, should be a previously flown NASA astronaut. The rest of the crew will have to undergo training with NASA and SpaceX (which is the provider of the space launch vehicle).
It’s not clear at this point what kind of activities they’ll perform while up there, but given how Axiom is planning to build its own orbital outpost, gaining experience with space operations is a safe bet.
"Axiom Space’s Ax-2 mission builds upon the success of Ax-1, which demonstrated our team’s ability to work collaboratively with our partners at NASA and SpaceX to plan and execute a complex human spaceflight mission,” said in a statement Derek Hassmann, Axiom’s chief of Mission Integration and Operations.
"Our new Ax-2 crew, together with a full mission manifest of science, outreach, and commercial activities, will continue to increase utilization of the International Space Station National Laboratory and demonstrate to the world the benefits of commercial space missions for all humanity.”
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