News hardware Billionaires pay millions to go into space and the ISS… and complain about working too much.
Published on 05/23/2022 at 16:40
The Axiom 1 mission was one of the first commercial space expeditions, carrying wealthy tourists. The latter paid very dearly for their stay, and did not expect to have to work so much within the ISS.
A space mission anything but restful for billionaires in the ISS
Axiom 1 represents the first fully commercial flight and not using a vacant seat on the ISS. Indeed, the company Axiom has managed to moor its own module entirely dedicated to external travelers : Michael López-Alegría, a private astronaut hired by Axiom, Eytan Stibbe, an Israeli businessman, and Larry Connor and Mark Pathy, two American billionaires.
This merry band had the chance to take off for the ISS in the Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX, and to spend a few days there. The cost of the ticket: the trifle of 55 million dollars per head. Space tourism is still in its infancy and you have to pay astronomical sums to be able to take advantage of it. But this is not the only constraint.
Indeed, the billionaires did not just admire the view. It sounds obvious, but when you go on a trip through space and enter the ISS, everyone has tasks to perform. The “tourists” were aware of this, but they did not expect to spend so many hours there each day.
Larry Connor, real estate entrepreneur and CEO of the Connor Group, points to the busy schedule: “The workload was very aggressive, especially the first two days”. He also mentions a mission that was supposed to last 2 and a half hours according to the pre-flight training, and which took 5 in reality.
It seems that Axiom has overestimated the ability of beginners to effectively perform professional astronaut work. Amazing…
A successful first SpaceX space mission but with lessons to be learned
Finally, even the daily life of NASA and ESA personnel already present in the ISS, Crew-3, was turned upside down. They had to make up for the lack of the Axiom team, and the delay as well as the unfavorable weather conditions extended the stay of the billionaires from 8 days to 15 days.
Of course, it’s a start and Axiom promises to learn these lessons to improve future travel conditions. One of the solutions offered by the company is to extend the duration of the stays, which would make it possible to spread out the tasks and enjoy a little more of the view.
To see how the second shipment will go, already planned with the 3 seats already sold.
Despite the small inconveniences, the mission launched on April 8, 2022 went well. This is a new step in the development of orbital adventures aboard SpaceX shuttles for tourists, wealthy of course.