SpaceX launches 4 private citizens to the space station

[Jessica-stormlover]

SpaceX launches 4 private citizens to the space station

SpaceX on Sunday launched a crew of private astronauts, including two representing Saudi Arabia, in a mission to the International Space Station that was chartered by another private space company, Axiom Space.

The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 5:37 p.m. from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the second group of private citizens to fly with Axiom to the space station and offering a reminder of how quickly human space flight is evolving from the days when only national governments had the wherewithal to train and launch people into space.

The crew is expected to arrive at the space station at about 9:30 a.m. Eastern Monday for an eight-day stay, performing research and science experiments. Axiom has not said how much the mission cost, but members of the previous mission paid as much as $55 million each.

Axiom conducted the training for this flight and commissioned the SpaceX launch. Axiom’s long-term goal is to build its own space station in low-Earth orbit and continue to send people from all over the world to it. It also holds a contract from NASA to build the spacesuits that astronauts will wear on the surface of the moon as part of the space agency’s Artemis program.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technolo ... ss-launch/

 

[Jessica-stormlover]

This is pretty cool! I hope the private sector keeps moving us forward!

 

[Grumblenuts]

Forget the rocket. Just launch all billionaires into orbit with a giant slingshot. CHEAP!

 

[22lcidw]

The Falcon 9 is the most reliable rocket we ever had.