2023 private crewed spaceflight to the ISS
"Ax-2" redirects here. For other uses, see
AX-2 .
Axiom Mission 2 (or Ax-2 ) was a private crewed spaceflight operated by
Axiom Space . Ax-2 was launched on 21 May 2023 on a
SpaceX
Falcon 9 , successfully docking with the
International Space Station (ISS)on 22 May.
[3]
[2]
After eight days docked to the ISS, the Dragon crew capsule Freedom undocked and returned to Earth twelve hours later.
[4]
Ax-2 was the second Axiom mission after
Axiom Mission 1 in April 2022 and the third private
crewed
SpaceX Dragon mission.
Crew
The crew included former
NASA
Astronaut
Peggy Whitson as mission commander and
John Shoffner as pilot.
[5]
[6]
The two Mission Specialists were
Ali AlQarni and
Rayyanah Barnawi of the
Saudi Space Commission .
[7]
Axiom had initially announced in April 2021 that one crew member for the second Axiom spaceflight to the ISS would be selected via Who Wants to Be an Astronaut? , a reality television series to be produced by
Discovery Channel .
[8]
[9]
On 11 January 2022, Axiom announced Italian Air Force (ItAF) Colonel Walter Villadei as the company’s first international professional astronaut.
[10] Col. Villadei was subsequently announced by Axiom as a backup crew member for Ax-2.
[11]
On 22 September 2022, Axiom Space announced it would partner with the Saudi Space Commission to send two Saudi astronauts on Ax-2 to research cancer, cloud seeding, and microgravity in space.
[12] This mission included the first female Saudi astronaut to go to space.
[13]
Prime crew
Backup crew
Mission
Axiom 2 lifted off on 21 May 2023 from
Launch Complex 39A at
Kennedy Space Center , onboard a
Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket. For the first time on a crew mission, the first stage of Falcon 9 landed on land at
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station 's
Landing Zone 1 instead of the more common at-sea recovery typical of crew flights. The mission, which was the second flight of
Crew Dragon Freedom , docked with the International Space Station a day later.
During the mission, the crew performed public outreach activities along with scientific research, including studies into the effects of microgravity on stem cells and other biological experiments.
[15]
After eight days docked to the ISS, Axiom 2 undocked and returned to Earth twelve hours later. Freedom
splashed down successfully in the
Gulf of Mexico off the coast of
Panama City, Florida . It was recovered by SpaceX's recovery ship
Megan .
[4]
Gallery
Axiom-2 docked to the ISS
Axiom-2 crew (front row) aboard the ISS
Axiom-2 departing the ISS
See also
External links
References
^ Baylor, Michael.
"Falcon 9 Block 5 - Axiom Mission 2 (AX-2)" . Next Spaceflight . Retrieved 25 April 2023 .
^
a
b
"NASA Selects Second Private Astronaut Mission to Space Station" . NASA. 13 December 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2021 . This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
public domain .
^
"SpaceX Dragon capsule docks at space station with private Ax-2 astronaut crew (Video)" .
Space.com . 22 May 2023.
^
a
b Gorman, Steve (31 May 2023).
"Private astronaut crew, including first Arab woman in orbit, returns from space station" . Reuters . Retrieved 31 May 2023 .
^ Harwood, William (25 May 2021).
"Whitson to command planned commercial flight to space station" . Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 25 May 2021 .
^
"Record-holding astronaut Peggy Whitson and mission pilot John Shoffner to lead Axiom Space's Ax-2 mission to enable new research in space" . Axiom Space. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021 .
^
a
b
c
d
e Heidler, Scott.
"Ax-2 mission set to launch four private astronauts from Cape Canaveral" . WESH2 . Retrieved 21 May 2023 .
^ Etherington, Darrell (18 April 2021).
"Discovery's new reality show 'Who Wants to Be an Astronaut?' will pick one winner to go to space" . TechCrunch . Retrieved 9 April 2022 .
^ De La Cruz, Lia (20 May 2021).
"Now casting nationwide: Discovery Channel's Who Wants to Be an Astronaut" . EarthSky . Retrieved 9 April 2022 .
^
"Axiom Space to train Italian Air Force's Col. Walter Villadei as professional astronaut for future space mission" . Axiom Space. 11 January 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022 .
^
"Axiom Space and Italian Government Sign Historic MOU to Expand Commercial Utilization of Space" . Axiom Space. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022 .
^ Bell, Jennifer (23 March 2023).
"Saudi astronauts to research cancer, cloud seeding, microgravity in space" . Al Arabiya English . Retrieved 6 April 2023 .
^
"Axiom Space Partners with Saudi Space Commission to Send First Female Saudi Astronaut to Space" . Axiom Space . 22 September 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2023 .
^
a
b
c
d Obeid, Ghinwa (17 April 2023).
"Alarabiya News" . Saudi Crown Prince meets with Kingdom’s Axiom Mission 2 crew ahead of launch . Retrieved 21 May 2023 .
^ Lewis, Russell; Archie, Ayana (31 May 2023).
"SpaceX mission returns from space station with ex-NASA astronaut, 3 paying customers" . NPR . Retrieved 31 May 2023 .
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