A special mission arrived at the International Space Station with two Saudis on board – 05/22/2023 at 20:48

Four passengers on a special mission organized by the American company Axiom Space entered the International Space Station on Monday, and among them are the first two Saudis to reside on board the flight laboratory.

Rayana Barnawi, the scientist who became the first Saudi woman to go to space, and Ali Al-Qarni, a trained fighter pilot, entered the space station (ISS) smiling, floating in zero gravity.

“I am here (…) to represent the hopes and dreams of everyone back home, everyone in the region,” Rayana Bernawi said at the welcome ceremony that took place immediately after their arrival. “We bring together different cultures here, and this international collaboration shows how space can bring everyone together.”

The two Saudi travelers are accompanied by American businessman John Shoffner, and mission commander Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut who is working on the International Space Station for the fourth time. She is responsible for supervising and assisting the three rookies.

“It’s such a pleasure to be back here,” Peggy Whitson exulted, saying it felt “like home”.

They were greeted by the seven astronauts already aboard the International Space Station: three Russians, three Americans and an Emirati.

This mission, called Ax-2, is the second completely private mission to visit the space station, after its first flight in April 2022.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Florida on Sunday, and the flight to the International Space Station, which is flying at a speed of 28,000 km / h above Earth, took about 16 hours.

SpaceX’s Dragon capsule docked with the International Space Station without a problem, and then its door opened about two hours later, around 3:00 PM GMT.

The members of Ax-2 will stay just over a week on the International Space Station, with their departure on May 30, weather conditions on Earth permitting. You should land off the coast of Florida.

Before that, they plan to conduct about twenty scientific experiments in weightlessness.

Axiom Space is responsible for training junior astronauts, renting transportation, and ensuring the smooth running of their stay.

For the company, these missions are a first step towards an ambitious goal: building its own space station, the first module of which is scheduled to launch at the end of 2025.

The structure will first be attached to the International Space Station, before detaching from it for takeoff independently.

NASA plans to retire the International Space Station by 2030, and instead send its astronauts to private stations — which will also host its customers. Thus, the US space agency promotes the programs of many companies.