Ian Whittaker (opens in a new tab), Senior Lecturer in Physics, Nottingham Trent University It has not been long since billionaires competed to reach the “edge of space”. Now, the first set of individuals is preparing to take a SpaceX bus to the International Space Station (ISS). Unlike Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos’ short “joyrides”, this mission will reach the altitude of about 400 kilometers required to moor on the ISS. The mission of the American commercial aerospace company Axiom Space is an important step forward in private space travel and is part of a plan to build a private space station. With Russia recently withdrawing (opening a new tab) from cooperating with the ISS, people will be watching to see if they can trust the private sector to provide reliable access to space for peaceful exploration. The Ax-1 mission is scheduled to launch on April 6, using a SpaceX Dragon Endeavor spacecraft (opens in new tab) – the same one used by astronauts (opens in new tab) in 2020 – on a Falcon 9 rocket. The mission is scheduled to last ten days, eight of which will be on the ISS. Live updates: Private Ax-1 mission to the space station With the high altitude and long duration, the preparations were time consuming. The idea for the mission was a plan since Axiom Space was founded in 2016 by Iranian-American businessman Kamal Ghaffarian (opens in new tab) (who also founded private nuclear reactor company X-energy) and Michael T. Suffredini (opens in new card) (who had a long career at NASA). And while NASA is funding some of the costs, each of the four participants is said to have to make its own contribution of $ 55 million (42 42 million) (opens in a new tab). The astronauts on board will feel weightless for most of the ten days and will be at risk from all astronauts facing the risk (opens in new tab), including radiation exposure, muscle wasting and possibly some bone loss. . Although with such a short mission, these risks are extremely low. Unlike standard US travel to the ISS, control of the mission is based at Axiom Houston, not NASA. Although this is the first time it has been used for a full mission, it has been used in the past for research that examines how data in the ISS change over time. As a result, the MCC-A (Axiom Mission Control Center) has been validated as a payload function location (opens in a new tab) by NASA.
The crew
The astronauts are all private citizens, with the mission’s commander, Michael López-Alegría, a former NASA astronaut. The other three members, Larry Connor, Eytan Stibbe and Mark Pathy are described by the company as “entrepreneurs” and “investors”. If you’re thinking of a stereotype suitable investor going into space, then think again. The background of these three men is very impressive and suggests that any of them could have already been selected as a space service astronaut, with a private pilot and a military pilot between them. Looking further into their background, it is clear that charity is at the heart of those selected for this mission, with everyone being known for giving back to their communities. As part of this, astronauts plan (opens in a new tab) to conduct research during their stay on the ISS, examining how space travel will affect future astronauts’ health – including its effects on vision, pain and sleep. . Experiments on food development are also being planned – these are all current topics that need research for future private space efforts. This is a very positive and welcome step forward. Usually the data collected by the space agency is made available to researchers (opens in a new tab) (usually after an embargo period). If private researchers are willing to do the same, then it heralds an era of accelerated research and technology.
The Blue Origin New Shepherd spacecraft lands with parachutes. (Image credit: wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
First private space station
The Ax-1 mission is the first part of an Axiom Space project to produce the first private space station. This is not a small feat. The ISS itself had to be built in pieces (opens in a new tab), then sent to be built in space. The total mass of a 420-ton space station is simply not possible to launch into space on a trip. By comparison, this is the same as launching 70 James Webb space telescopes (opening a new tab) at the same time. It took over ten years and 30 launches to complete the ISS. Axiom’s plan is to actually build the space station on the ISS, initially by building a housing unit (Axiom Hub One) (opens in a new tab), which is estimated to be launched in 2024. Without a doubt, once commissioned, this unit will host and join more modules as funding for the company comes. With the ISS scheduled for decommissioning sometime after 2030, there will be a need for an open, international space station. While a space station costs a lot to maintain, NASA and ESA will at least likely pay a rental fee (opens in a new tab) to use the facilities on such a private space station. Many private companies will monitor the Ax-1 shipment to decide whether to follow their own plans. Success would mean that there could suddenly be an influx of investments and plans for future space station units or entire stations. If that happens, space agencies will have to accept that they will not be able to compete with the private sector. Instead, it would be wise to focus on renting a private space and conducting open access research. I wish the first four private astronauts good luck with their mission and hope to bring a lot of data for both researchers and the general public to learn. This article is republished by The Conversation (opens in a new tab) with Creative Commons permission. Read the original article (opens in a new tab). Follow all of the Expert Voices topics and discussions – and join the discussion – on Facebook and Twitter. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher.
