WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th February, 2023) NASA and other space agencies partnering with it have named the astronaut crew for the next private sector Axiom Space flight to the International Space Station (ISS), the US space agency announced in a press release on Monday.
"Axiom Space's Director of Human Spaceflight and former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson will command the privately funded mission. John Shoffner of Knoxville, Tennessee, will serve as pilot," the release said.
The two mission specialists on the Axiom Mission-2 (Ax-2) will be Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi, who are both members of the inaugural Saudi Arabia national astronaut program, NASA said. Barnawi will command the mission, the release said
"The Ax-2 crew will launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and travel to the space station. ...the private astronauts plan to spend 10 days aboard the orbiting laboratory implementing a full mission of science, outreach, and commercial activities," the release said.
The mission is scheduled to launch in the spring of this year and it will be the first private space mission to include both private astronauts and astronauts representing foreign governments, as well as the first private mission commanded by a woman, NASA said.
