The first fully private space mission, consisting of three businessmen and a former astronaut departing on a SpaceX rocket, arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) early Saturday, where it will remain for just over a week.
• Also read: The first private mission to the International Space Station has launched
• Also read: Montreal stuffed puppy in space
All smiling, often thumbs up in their black and blue uniforms, the commander of the Ax-1 mission, American-Spanish Michael Lopez-Alegria, Canadian Mark Pathy, American Larry Connor and Israeli Eytan Stibbe came out one after the Dragon -Capsule from SpaceX.
They were greeted with hugs from ISS crew members and camera flashes.
Larry Connor said he was “pleased and honored” to be a part of the experience but also aware of the “responsibility” of this first mission, which was made up of “civilians” and preparing for “a busy week of research”.
Eytan Stibbe insisted on speaking “Hebrew in the ISS” and Mark Pathy described the adventure as “incredible”.
Michael Lopez-Alegria, a 63-year-old former NASA astronaut, is now an employee of the company Axiom, which organized the trip, and he was previously on the ISS.
The other three crew members each paid tens of millions of dollars for the experiment. Larry Connor, head of a real estate company, takes on the pilot role.
Mark Pathy is the head of an investment company and ex-pilot Eytan Stibbe is a co-founder of an investment fund.
Newcomers have already visited the space station, especially in the 2000s, last year Russia sent a film crew there, then a Japanese billionaire. But these flew aboard Soyuz rockets, accompanied by cosmonauts.
Axiom Space bought SpaceX’s vehicle and paid NASA to use its station.
The four men have busy schedules with about 25 experiments on aging, heart health and even stem cells.
Axiom Space has an agreement with SpaceX for a total of four missions, and NASA has already formally approved the principle of a second, Ax-2.
For Axiom Space, this is a first step toward an ambitious goal: building its own space station.