Peggy Whitson, America’s most experienced astronaut with 665 days in space and 10 spacewalks in three stays aboard the International Space Station, is ready to build on her legacy as one of the universally recognized “GOATs” – the greatest of all time – in America’s space program.
With a Ph.D. Whitson, a former chief of NASA’s astronaut corps who studies biochemistry and has served on two stations as commander of the space station, last flew into space in 2017 after completing a 289-day station flight. She never expected to fly into space again.
But after retiring from NASA and joining Axiom Space in Houston as director of human spaceflight, Whitson, now 63, plans to launch her fourth flight on Sunday, this time as commander of the SpaceX Crew Dragon “Freedom.” .
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She is joined by retired businessman, racer and adventurer John Shoffner, who serves as co-pilot, and two Saudi Arabian astronauts: F-16 fighter pilot Ali Alqarni and biomedical researcher Rayyanah Barnawi.
“I wanted to be able to fly in space again,” Whitson said in an interview with CBS News, “but the realistic part of Peggy was like, ‘No, you probably won’t be able to do that. And so it’s just a thrill and a half to have the opportunity to fly for Axiom.
It is the second “private astronaut mission” (PAM) to the International Space Station chartered by Axiom and sanctioned by NASA seeking to encourage private sector development of low Earth orbit.
The Ax-2 crew (left to right): Ali Alqarni, Rayyanah Barnawi, Commander Peggy Whitson and Pilot John Shoffner. axiom space
Neither SpaceX nor Axiom will say how much the flight cost or how much Shoffner and the Saudi government contributed to Alqarni and Barnawi. However, each seat is thought to cost more than $50 million.
In any case, Alqarni and Barnawi will be the second and third Saudis to go into space after Sultan Salman Al-Saud flew aboard the space shuttle Discovery in 1985. They will be the first Saudis to visit the space station and Barnawi will become the first Saudi woman to fly in space.
“Research has been my passion in life,” she said at a pre-launch press conference. “I am very happy and honored to be here today, representing the Government of Saudi Arabia and the Saudi Space Commission as the first Saudi female astronaut to go to the International Space Station.
“This is a great opportunity for me to represent the country, to represent its dreams. … This is a dream come true for everyone.”
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch is scheduled for Sunday at 5:37 p.m. EST, with a backup launch opportunity for Monday at 5:14 p.m. It will be the tenth manned flight of a SpaceX Crew Dragon, the California rocket builder’s third non-governmental mission and the second mission chartered by Axiom Space.
Whitson (left) briefs her crew members on the intricacies of living and working in space. axiom space
But as with many afternoon starts this time of year, weather could play a role, with the chance of favorable conditions being just 60 percent on Sunday and down to 20 percent on Monday due to expected thunderstorms.
The Ax-2 crew has only two chances to get out in May. If weather or some other issue keeps them grounded beyond Monday, the flight could slip into the late summer-fall period due to other launches already scheduled, multiple spacewalks, and the first manned flight of the Boeing Starliner capsule in July.
“The schedule is very tight because all of the missions are launching from different parts of the world,” said Ken Bowersox, NASA’s director of space operations. “And it was a real challenge for the team to find that two-day time slot for the (Ax-2) mission.”
Assuming a timely launch on Sunday, Whitson and Shoffner will oversee an automatic rendezvous with the space station, catch up and dock with the Harmony module’s space-facing port at 9:24 a.m. Monday. A late start on Monday would mean docking around 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
Upon arrival, they will be met aboard the station by Expedition 69 commander Sergei Prokopyev and his two Soyuz MS-23 crew members, Dmitry Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, and NASA Crew 6 aviators Steve Bowen, Woody Hoburg and the UAE astronaut Sultan welcomes Alneyadi and cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.
During an eight-day stay, Whitson, Shoffner, Alqarni and Barnawi plan to conduct 20 research projects, 14 of them by Saudi scientists, ranging from human physiology and cell biology to technology development. Equally important, if not even more important: public relations.
“This is a huge event in Saudi Arabia,” said Derek Hassmann, Axiom’s director of mission integration and operations. “A whole host of media events are planned during the time they are docked with the ISS.
The Ax-2 Falcon 9 (foreground) stands at historic launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center. Spacebar X
“One of the main focuses of many of these events is interacting with school-age children in Saudi Arabia. And that was one of the reasons, precisely because of the timing of the school year, that we are very interested in doing this flight in May.” . They also have a whole host of post-flight events planned.”
Barnawi said, “We are here as STEM educators so that the kids will be (attracted) to math, science and technology and know they can do more.”
Alqarni added: “We will do three educational and awareness experiments with the children and it will be a live event which will be great for them. It’s going to be a huge opportunity to compare the results we’ve had on the ground with what we’ll have onboard the ISS.”
One such student experiment: Build a kite and compare flying aboard the station in the absence of gravity to flying student-built kites on Earth.
During the Ax-2 crew’s stay aboard the station, the Quest airlock, which houses sensitive spacewalk equipment, is the only area off-limits to the inexperienced visitor. At the invitation of the cosmonauts, they can visit the Russian segment and will be trained to operate the basic equipment without supervision.
“Of course, they have to train a lot for the galley and the potty, both of which are essential functions,” said Hassmann. “But in orbit, once they get to the ISS, when they use each of these things for the first time, when they prepare their meals in the galley for the first time, before they use the toilet for the first time, they’re going to get a (instruction). by the ISS crew.”
And they can show their appreciation. Alqarni said he is bringing Saudi coffee and dates to share with station crew.
The Ax-2 crew strapped into their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule for the countdown to the dress rehearsal on Friday. SpaceX
Assuming they launch as planned on Sunday, Whitson and her crewmates plan to undock from the space station on May 30 for a fiery leap back to Earth and splashdown off the Florida coast.
The Ax-2 flight is the second such private astronaut mission to the station booked by Axiom, a company led by Mike Suffredini, former NASA space station program manager, and other government and private sector space veterans.
Axiom Space is developing a module that will be attached to the International Space Station in the next few years and will serve as a precursor to a standalone commercial space station.
Whitson’s Ax-2 mission, like the Ax-1 flight in 2022 before it, is seen as a crucial step in the development of the company’s space station, an orbital base that can be used by government and private astronauts and researchers alike after the International Space Station goes on retired at the end of the decade.
“The Ax-2 mission represents the continued progress that NASA and industry are making in building a robust commercial economy in low Earth orbit,” said Angela Hart, manager of NASA’s commercial development program in low Earth orbit.
“The future we envision for low Earth orbit builds on the lessons learned from the ISS and these private astronaut missions, and brings us closer to our goal of future government and private astronauts working side-by-side on commercial and operated space stations. “
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William Harwood