Two Saudi astronauts will fly with SpaceX on next Axiom Space mission to the ISS
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NASA and Axiom Space jointly announced Monday the final two crew members of Axiom Space's second private astronaut mission to the International Space Station with SpaceX will be the second and third Saudi citizens to fly to space and the first to visit the ISS, Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi.
Barnawi, the first female Saudi astronaut, is a cancer research laboratory technician. Alqarni is a captain and fighter pilot with 12 years of experience in the Saudi air force.
Unlike the first Saudi citizen to fly to space, Sultan bin Salman Al Saud, a payload specialist who flew aboard NASA's space shuttle Discovery in 1985, Alqarni and Barnawi are members of the Saudi Space Commission's first-of-its-kind national astronaut program. This makes them government astronauts of Saudi Arabia rather than private citizen spaceflight participants.
According to a release by Axiom Space, it's the "first national astronaut program dedicated to sending Saudi astronauts into space as a contribution to humanity’s progress, and in line with the progressive goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030."
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A partnership between the Commission and Axiom Space for future flight opportunities was announced in September 2022.
Michael Suffredini, Axiom Space's president & CEO, said in a release, "This partnership highlights Axiom Space's profound commitment to expand human spaceflight opportunities to a larger share of the international community, as well as to multiply scientific and technological development on Earth and in orbit."
Who else is part of Ax-2?
The pair join former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who will lead the mission as commander, and John Shoffner, Ax-2's pilot, and a private spaceflight participant. After gaining approval from NASA, their selection was announced by Axiom Space last month.
Whitson will become the first female commander of a private astronaut mission and add to her standing record of 665 total days in space, the most held by any U.S. astronaut.
After retiring from NASA in 2018, she joined Axiom Space as the company's director of human spaceflight.
“I’m honored to be heading back to the station for the fourth time, leading this talented Ax-2 crew on their first mission,” Whitson said in a NASA release. “This is a strong and cohesive team determined to conduct meaningful scientific research in space and inspire a new generation about the benefits of microgravity. It’s a testament to the power of science and discovery to unify and build international collaboration.”
Shoffner is a businessman, aviator, and STEM advocate who was born in Alaska and currently resides in Knoxville, Tennessee. He is a veteran pilot with 25 years of airshow experience. According to Axiom Space, he hopes to use the Ax-2 mission "to ignite a passion for STEM education in teachers and students worldwide."
More about the Ax-2 mission
The Ax-2 mission is a joint effort between NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX. Later this spring, the crew will launch aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rocket. The short-duration mission to the orbiting outpost is expected to last about ten days. During their time on station, the Ax-2 crew members will spend their time implementing science, outreach, and commercial activities.
According to Axiom Space, training for private missions is conducted in tandem with NASA and SpaceX, which includes a "rigorous training curriculum over many months in preparation to live and conduct meaningful work in space."
Ax-2 will take place a little more than a year after Ax-1, the first private astronaut mission to the ISS, which flew three private citizens and former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría. That mission lasted about 17 days due to unfavorable weather in splashdown zones that delayed the crew's departure. That subsequently caused a delay in the launch date of NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 mission to the ISS.
Axiom Space's Ax-2 mission order with NASA accommodates the crew to stay aboard the space station for up to one additional contingency week. In accordance with NASA's private astronaut mission pricing policy, it also grants Axiom Space rights to NASA services such as "crew supplies, cargo delivery to space, storage, and other in-orbit resources for daily use," according to a NASA statement. In exchange, NASA will receive space aboard Ax-2's Dragon capsule to return science and equipment back to Earth.
In August 2022, following Ax-1, NASA announced that all private astronaut mission providers must select a previously flown NASA astronaut as the spacecraft commander for all future private missions to the ISS. This helps to ensure familiarity with systems and procedures and, according to NASA, the added benefit of "up to 10 hours of the private astronaut mission commander’s time during the docked mission to complete NASA science or perform tasks for NASA."
If all stays on track during a very busy crew and cargo traffic schedule to and from the ISS in the first half of the year, the Ax-2 mission is expected to launch from Pad 39-A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida sometime in May.
For the latest, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.
Jamie Groh is a space reporter for Florida Today. You can contact her at JGroh@floridatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter at @AlteredJamie.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: First Saudi astronauts to fly on Axiom 2 mission with SpaceX
