Axiom Space’s third commercial astronaut mission is on track to launch next year.
based in houston axiomatic space‘s Ax-3 flight is on track for launch to Earth. international space station (ISS) By January 2024 at the earliest.4 crew members including former crew members NASA astronaut, european space agency Reserve astronauts and passengers who flew into suborbital space virgin galactic He spoke about his excitement with journalists on Monday (October 16) earlier this year.
“I’m very happy to be part of this mission and this amazing crew,” Swedish astronaut Markus Vandt said in a livestreamed press conference, adding that the Ax-3 will also be joined by representatives of his country’s government and industry. He emphasized that he should participate. He added: “I’m also proud that Sweden and Europe trust me to represent Sweden.” [in] For me, this mission is much more than 14 days in space. space, and my career as a fighter pilot and test pilot as well. ”
Ax-3 will be launched from NASA to the ISS kennedy space center In Florida, using space xcrew of dragon spaceship and falcon 9 rocket. (axiom signed the agreement Teaming up with SpaceX in 2021 to launch three more crew members into space after pioneering mission Ax-1, flew in April 2022. Additionally, SpaceX is the only commercial spacecraft to date to be fully certified for a NASA mission. )
Related: Axiom Space selects Ax-3 astronauts for SpaceX’s ISS mission
The mission will be led by former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría, a dual U.S.-Spanish citizen and Ax-1 commander. He will be joined by Want, who was called up from reserve astronaut status when assigned to Ax-3.Italian Air Force Colonel Walter Villaday flies into suborbital space on Virgin Galactic’s first commercial launch. June of this year; and Türkiye’s first space citizen, Alper Gezeravcı. This will be López-Alegría’s sixth space mission, Villadei’s second, and Vandt and Gezerafcz’s first.
López-Alegría said training is going well and the crew has learned a lot since Ax-1, when other ISS astronauts were required to help the crew with their missions. He said Ax-1 was a startup mission accomplished on an “aggressive timeline” and that Axiom Space has since matured its process.
For the next mission, Ax-2 May 2023, Commander and former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson He was given fewer responsibilities in order to give up his time to help the crew. Meanwhile, NASA has stipulated that all commercial missions must be commanded by a former astronaut.
“She was more proactive in helping the rest of the members [Ax-2] “We are providing experiments to the crews who conduct them, and Ax-3 will follow suit,” López-Alegría said. Other changes were made to training and scheduling tools for crew members to manage their time in orbit. Regarding future missions, he added: The schedule with Axiom Space leaves enough leeway for him and Whitson to exchange commands for the foreseeable future, without having to hire another former astronaut yet.
Gezeravci was selected as an astronaut candidate from among 36,000 applicants in Turkey in May. As he prepares for Turkey’s first spaceflight, Gezeravcı said he hopes the effort will “leave a remarkable footprint on our planet.” proud centenary“And it will also help “consolidate the unity” of devastated Turkey. earthquake At the beginning of this year.
Villaday reached suborbital space (based on the U.S. definition, not the International Astronomical Federation’s definition) during his spaceflight. Italian Air Force flight in June with Virgin Galactic. “I have to say that from a training standpoint, this was very helpful to me as a kind of initial test flight,” he said. Billaday emphasized that the Air Force’s efforts to date include years of training experience from Russia and NASA.
“For those who want to go to the ISS, [Virgin Galactic] It’s not strictly necessary or mandatory,” he added. “The training is different. The experience is similar. In just an hour and a half, you go through all the stages of flight, from launch to microgravity to re-entry. But testing all these training features… It’s definitely a great platform to build on.”
