2023-05-22 16:08:28
SpaceX’s reusable Crew Dragon spacecraft with commercial tourists on board has docked with the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Ax-2 mission, follows from messages NASA. Docking to the Harmony module of the American segment of the station was carried out automatically at 9:12 EST (16:12 Moscow time).
The crew includes: the ship’s commander, former NASA astronaut and the first female ISS commander Peggy Whitson, entrepreneurial pilot John Schoffner and two astronauts from Saudi Arabia – Rayyan Barnawi and Ali al-Karni – citizens of this country go into space for the first time in almost 40 years .
Crew Dragon launched from the Cape Canaveral spaceport on a Falcon booster at 17:37 on May 21, US East Coast time (0:37 on May 22 Moscow time). After docking on the ISS is completed, the crew will transfer to the station. It is planned that the crew members will take part in the scientific work of the ISS and will conduct more than 20 experiments during their stay in orbit. The date of their return to Earth is still unknown.
The mission is organized by Axiom Space, which specializes in space tourism. The first such flight was carried out in April 2022. NASA and Axiom Space have signed a contract for a third flight, which is scheduled for no earlier than November of this year. The flight cost for each crew member is estimated at $55 million.
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