USA SPACE
Miami, Apr 7 (EFE).- The revision prior to the launch of the first private manned mission to the International Space Station (ISS) this Thursday has been a success and everything is ready for the takeoff, in principle tomorrow, of the Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida (USA).
“We are excited one day following the launch of this historic Ax-1 mission, unlike any other, with four private citizens on board bound for the ISS,” Derek Hassmann, Axiom Space COO, told a conference today.
It was an emotion shared by the participants in the press conference: Angela Hart, manager of NASA’s LEO commercial program; Dana Weigel, deputy director of ISS programs, and Benjamin Reed, director of the manned spaceflight program, SpaceX.
THEY ARE NOT SPACE TOURISTS
Hassmann made it clear that these were not space tourists, but an “international crew that will carry out experiments and other activities in orbit” during the 10-day expedition, eight of which will remain on the ISS.
It is a crew that has received intensive training as astronauts, “well prepared, in high spirits and ready to go to the ISS and with great enthusiasm for launch” tomorrow, Hassman said.
The Ax-1 will be commanded by the former NASA astronaut of Spanish origin Miguel López-Alegría, with extensive experience in four previous missions to space.
The other three civilians are American Larry Connor, who will serve as pilot; the Canadian Mark Pathy and the Israeli Eytan Stibbe, these two as mission specialists during which they will carry out “scientific, outreach and commercial activities”.
The Axiom 1 Mission is scheduled to launch on Friday at 11:17 a.m. local time (15:17 GMT) from Cape Canaveral on the east coast of Florida.
“Everything is ready for launch,” said Reed, who pointed out that an improvement in weather is expected that will allow, in principle, the takeoff of the Ax-1 and the crew aboard the Dragon and above a Falcon 9 rocket, from the private company SpaceX.
Reed and Hassmann stressed that it is convenient to have a “bigger picture” of what this space mission to the ISS entails, not only because of the “hard training” of the crew, but also because of its contribution to science and research.
And what is even more important, the value of this totally private mission in the “construction of the next commercial space station” between 2024-2030 and connected to the ISS.
“It is the first of several missions that will continue in the year 2024 that will test our capabilities” to meet this goal, added Hassmann, who, however, explained that the “priority” is “keeping the crew safe and maximizing your experience.”
Dana Weigel insisted on the “intense training” that the crew has received to carry out day-to-day tasks in areas such as video photography, feeding, movement without gravity and “a high level of training to know what to do in an emergency” .
A series of tasks in which the crew will be supported at all times by López-Alegría, whose professionalism and experience were highlighted by the experts at the conference.
“We are ready to fly once more and safe. It is amazing what we have done in such a short time, everything we have learned” thanks also to the joint work with NASA, said Reed, to highlight the value of the word “transparency” in the project.
In recent statements to Efe, the Hispanic-American López-Alegría assured that this was “an adventure” and “a historic moment” of which he felt very proud to be a part.
López-Alegría, born 63 years ago in Spain and raised since childhood in the United States, said that his return to space following 15 years makes him more anxious than when he worked on space missions for the US space agency.
