{"id":10590,"date":"2022-04-08T20:09:27","date_gmt":"2022-04-08T12:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/first-of-its-kind-commercial-astronaut-mission-heads-for-space-station\/"},"modified":"2022-04-08T20:09:27","modified_gmt":"2022-04-08T12:09:27","slug":"first-of-its-kind-commercial-astronaut-mission-heads-for-space-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/first-of-its-kind-commercial-astronaut-mission-heads-for-space-station\/","title":{"rendered":"First-of-its-kind commercial astronaut mission heads for space station"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket climbs away from pad 39A at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center to begin the Ax-1 commercial crew mission. Credit: NASA\/Joel Kowsky<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Strapped in the seats of a SpaceX crew capsule, a retired NASA astronaut and three wealthy paying passengers rocketed into orbit Friday from the Kennedy Space Center on the first fully commercial mission to the International Space Station.<\/p>\n

The commercial crew mission, managed by a Houston-based company named Axiom Space, is slated to last 10 or 11 days. The flight is the first mission to travel to the space station as part of a purely commercial venture. All previous space station missions have been government-led or contracted by a government space agency.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo say that we are excited is a huge understatement,\u201d said Mike Suffredini, CEO of Axiom. \u201cIt\u2019s fantastic to have launched this morning. \u201cThe crew is on orbit. They\u2019re very excited (and) happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael L\u00f3pez-Alegr\u00eda, commander of the mission, launched on his fifth flight to space. The other crew members for the Axiom mission, known as Ax-1, are pilot Larry Connor and mission specialists Eytan Stibbe and Mark Pathy, three investors and entrepreneurs who paid for their tickets to space.<\/p>\n

The four-man team lifted off from pad 39A at the Florida spaceport at 11:17:12 a.m. EDT (1517:12 GMT) Friday, riding inside SpaceX\u2019s Dragon Endeavour spacecraft, making its third trip to the space station. A Falcon 9 rocket powered by nine kerosene-fueled engines guided the Crew Dragon capsule into space, then a second stage engine finished the job of placing the spaceship into a stable orbit around Earth.<\/p>\n

The first stage booster, meanwhile, returned to Earth for landing on a floating SpaceX platform in the Atlantic Ocean, completing the reusable rocket\u2019s fifth mission. Then the second stage released the Dragon Endeavour spacecraft to fly on its own in orbit.<\/p>\n

\u201cZero G and we feel fine!\u201d L\u00f3pez-Alegr\u00eda said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn behalf of the Falcon 9 team, welcome to space,\u201d radioed Bill Gerstenmaier, SpaceX\u2019s vice president of build and flight reliability, to the Ax-1 crew members. \u201cThanks for flying Falcon 9. You guys enjoy your trip to that wonderful space station <\/span>in the sky. Do some great research for us. We look forward to seeing you back here on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a hell of a ride,\u201d L\u00f3pez-Alegr\u00eda replied. \u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to the next 10 days.\u201d<\/p>\n