SpaceX to send 3 tourists to the International Space Station

  • Eytan Stibbe, a former Israeli fighter pilot, Larry Connor, an American technology entrepreneur and Mark Pathy, a Canadian investor will be part of the crew of the first entirely-private orbital space mission. 
  • The three men are paying a whopping $55 million each to fly aboard a SpaceX rocket for an eight-day visit to the International Space Station. 
  • The trip is being organized by Houston-based spaceflight firm Axiom.
  • The mission will be led by former NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria, who now works for Axiom space.

AXIOM MISSION 1

  • The Axiom Mission 1 (AX 1) flight is being arranged under a commercial agreement with NASA. 
  • While private citizens have travelled to space before, the AX 1 mission will be the first to use a commercially built spacecraft, the SpaceX Dragon 2.
  • The three men will participate in research and philanthropic projects alongside the astronauts from all over the world who are already stationed at the ISS.
  • Eytan Stibbe Stibbe will be the second Israeli to be launched into space. 
  • The first Israeli to go to space was Ilan Ramon, who died onboard the space shuttle Columbia, which disintegrated as it re-entered the atmoshphere in 2003.

CIVILIANS IN SPACE

  • Private civilians have travelled to the space station before. 
  • Since 2001, Russia has been senidng rides to the ISS . 
  • They travelled onboard the Russian Soyuz aircraft along with professional cosmonauts and NASA astronauts.
  • In 2019, NASA also reversed its stance and allowed ordinary citizens to be launched into space from American soil. 

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