SpaceX is preparing for the presentation on Friday (April 8). Ax-1, the first exclusively private manned mission to the International Space Station (ISS), from KSC Launch Pad 39A. Elon Musk’s company dropped the Ax-1 Falcon 9 rocket and the Dragon crew capsule at 39A yesterday (April 5). And the next door pillow, the 39B, currently houses the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion capsule to fly on a NASA aircraft Artemis 1 mission to the moon in a few months from now. Photos: The first space touristsLive updates: The private Ax-1 mission to the International Space Station
An enlargement of the Artemis 1 (right) and Ax-1 Falcon 9 and Dragon stack at KSC on April 6, 2022. (Credit Image: NASA / Joel Kowsky) The two rockets are seen together in NASA photos posted to one of his Flickr accounts (opens in new tab) today (April 6). The SLS and Falcon 9 appear to be about the same size in some of the new images, but this is a perspective trick. the SLS rises 322 feet (98 meters) above the ground, while the Falcon 9 is “only” 230 feet (70 meters) high. The Ax-1, which was organized by the Houston company Axiom Space, will send three paying customers and Axiom employee Michael López-Alegría to the ISS for an eight-day stay. López-Alegría, a former NASA astronaut, will lead the mission. The Ax-1 was scheduled to launch on April 3, but its launch was postponed to host the Artemis 1 “wet dress rehearsal” at Pad 39B. During this critical test, members of the Artemis 1 team practice the activities they will perform in view of a real launch, including powering the SLS. The wet dress rehearsal started on April 1st and was supposed to end two days later. However, the teams encountered several problems and as a result stopped the test. They will take things again sometime after the launch of Ax-1said NASA officials during a conversation with reporters yesterday (April 5). Mike Wall is the author of “Out there (opens in a new tab) “(Grand Central Publishing, 2018, illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for extraterrestrial life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in a new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or enabled Facebook (opens in a new tab).
