CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Another four humans left the Earth on Sunday evening with the launch of Axiom Space’s private mission to the International Space Station hitching a ride aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon.
A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 5:37 p.m. from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A to bring to the ISS the Ax-2 crew of former NASA astronaut and now Axiom Space employee Peggy Whitson acting as commander, private customer and aviator John Shoffner as pilot, and a pair of Saudi Space Commission astronauts, Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali AlQarni.
“Thanks for putting your trust in the Falcon 9 team. Hope you enjoyed the ride to space. Have a great trip on Dragon. Welcome home to zero G Peggy,” said SpaceX’s William Gerstenmaier, who formerly was NASA’s chief of human spaceflight, directing his comment to Whitson, who has flown to space three times previously.
“It was a phenomenal ride,” she said.
SpaceX was able to once again recover its first-stage booster, which was flying for the first time, but this time landing back at nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Landing Zone 1, a first for one of its crewed flights, bringing with it the signature sonic boom to the Space Coast as it came in for a touchdown.
The crew woke up at KSC at 9:37 a.m. and made their way to SpaceX’s crew facilities after 1 p.m. with their walkout and ride to the launch pad after 2 p.m. Despite the threat of anvil clouds creeping toward KSC, the rocket was able to lift off without a hitch.
Crew Dragon will next spend about 15 hours cruising toward a scheduled docking with the ISS at 9:30 a.m. Monday.
They will increase the ISS population from seven to 11 for their short stay. The launch is only the second human launch from the U.S. this year following March’s Crew-6 flight, the astronauts of which are currently on board the ISS and awaiting Ax-2’s arrival.
Whitson has already spent 665 days in space during her NASA career, an American record that will now grow by what’s planned to be a 10-day mission, eight of which will be spent on board the ISS.
“I have shared a long long list of what we’re going to do, what we’re not going to do, how we’re going to do things, you know, the whys behind all of those because there’s so many lessons learned after being up in space first,” Whitson said. “I’ve got one or two lessons I’ve maybe learned the hard way. And I’m trying to save them some time because our mission is relatively short. So we want to make sure we get the most out of every one of those days.”
Shoffner acted as backup crew with Whitson for the Ax-1 mission.
“I feel like I’ve been preparing this my entire life. I’ve been a fan of space since I was a child. I grew up in the age of the early space race. So getting here now and having a chance to fulfill that excitement is very, very powerful to me,” he said.
Barnawi, a science researcher, became the first Saudi woman in space, and she and AlQarni, who was a pilot with the Royal Saudi Air Force, will be the first to visit the ISS.
The quartet will be taking part in more than 20 science and technology experiments as well as media outreach while on orbit.
“These experiments range from human physiology, technology, cell biology, and most importantly … the outreach,” Barnawi said. “So one of the goals for this mission at least for me and Ali, and John and Peggy is to do these outreach events for the kids and try to elaborate on the fact that we are here as STEM educators. So for the kids to be attached to math and science, technology, to know that they can do more, and they can trust themselves is actually one of the goals of this mission.”
The two were chosen among hundreds of applicants for this primary crew.
“For me as a fighter pilot, I’ve always had the passion of exploring the unknown and just admiring what’s in the sky and the stars,” AlQarni said. “So it was a great opportunity for me to pursue this kind of passion that I have and now maybe just to fly among the stars.”
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