NASA just approved an historic ISS mission
NASA has approved a fully private mission to the International Space Station, run by the U.S. company Axiom Space. In a statement, NASA said that, "NASA and its international partners have approved the Axiom Mission 1 crew for the first private astronaut mission to the International Space Station through the Multilateral Crew Operations Panel," and confirmed that the crew has cleared medical evaluations.
The mission, called Axiom Mission 1, will see four travelers sent to the International Space Station. They include professionally trained former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría, who flew on three Space Shuttle missions and has previously stayed on the ISS for one mission. He also holds the record for the highest number hours spent on spacewalks by an American, having spent a total of 67 hours across the 10 spacewalks he performed over his career (via NASA).
In addition to López-Alegría, the crew includes Larry Connor, Mark Pathy, and Eytan Stibbe, from the U.S., Canada, and Israel respectively.
Axion Mission 1 is set to launch on 28 February 2022, with an eight-day stay on the space station. According to Axiom Space, the crew will be performing research during their trip. The company says on its website that, "Ax-1 crew members will dedicate their eight-day mission aboard the ISS conducting innovative research developed for microgravity on behalf of major organizations ranging from hospitals to technology companies. Critical findings from the extensive array of experiments will make their way back to Earth and humankind."
Axiom Space is a private space company which is aiming to not only provide commercial flights to the International Space Station, but also to eventually own and operate its own private space station (via Space). The reported price for a trip to the ISS is an eye-watering $55 million for a 10-day mission, which includes costs for the journey to and from the station, the stay on the station itself, and training for the mission.
The ISS has been the site for various private missions in the last few months, including a Russian film crew and actress who were working on a movie partially shot in space, and a recent trip by three Japanese space tourists.