Watch live the launch of the first special mission to the International Space Station

Axiom Mission 1 (or just ax 1) is the first entirely private mission to the International Space Station (ISS) implemented by Axiom Space, which is scheduled to launch on Friday (8) at 12:17 pm (GMT), where Michael Lopez Alegria, Larry Connor, Mark Bathy will take And Eitan Steppe to spend a few days in the orbiting laboratory.

The launch was scheduled for last Wednesday (6), But it ended up being postponed on Friday. The mission will be launched by SpaceX And as usual, Ax-1 members will travel on A Dragon Crew Capsule Launched by a Falcon 9 rocket. Launched on Platform 39A from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Inside the mission Ax-1

Designed by Axiom Space, the Ax-1 will be the first mission that will transport an entirely private crew to the International Space Station. Furthermore, this would be a different undertaking than Tourist missions I already performed at the station. Is this the ax crew 1 He will go to the International Space Station with a schedule full of scientific research and will have to perform more than 20 experiments in science and education, among other fields.

Among the crew is Michael Lopez Allegria, a former astronaut NASA and Vice President of Business Development at Axiom Space, who will be the leader of the Ax-1. Larry Connor, a pilot with experience in over 16 aircraft and combat aircraft, will lead the mission. Eitan Stipe is one of the founding partners of Vital Capital, while Mark Bathy is the CEO and Director of MARVIK, a Canadian company. They will both be mission specialists.

Three crew members paid for their seats, paying more than $50 million to travel to the space complex. This would be the first mission to be carried out without support from government space agencies and marked the beginning of a larger project: Axiom Space plans to build the Axiom Station, the first commercial station in Earth orbit.

For this, the company wants to launch some modules for the International Space Station, can be separated together To operate in low Earth orbit in its own activities. If all goes according to plan, the first module will be launched in 2024, and three more modules will be launched in 2027. According to the company, special space missions are the first steps towards achieving these goals.

Ax Mission Science Experiments 1

On board the International Space Station, the crew of the first mission of Axiom Space There will be crowded days, like Ax-1 will have about 100 hours of research activities They represent different institutions.

According to Christian Mander, director of production and space research at Axiom Space, there will be 25 experiments designed for microgravity and up to 12 before and after flight.

Connor will work with the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic, building on the research he has supported at these institutions for more than a decade. For Mayo, he will study senescent cells (those that have stopped dividing) and their relationship to them heart health. For Cleveland, plan to have MRI scans before and after the mission to see how spaceflight affects spinal and brain tissue.

Pathé will work on research projects representing various universities, startups, and healthcare institutions. One of the projects is the Holoport system, which allows users to communicate remotely via 3D projections, such as a hologram. Also, Pathé will conduct research for a children’s hospital, study of chronic pain and Sleep disorders, along with research projects for other institutions. It will also monitor the Earth to better understand the effects of global warming.

Among other experiments is the TESSERAE project (“Mosaic-clad Electromagnetic Space Structures for Exploration of Configurable and Adaptive Environments”), which will test “swarm” techniques for robots for various constructions, such as additional modules for space stations. The TRISH (Transitional Research Institute for Space Health) project is a consortium that collects data on occupants and performs physical and cognitive testing, as well as obtaining balance and vision data.

Watch the launch of the Ax-1 live

Axiom Space will broadcast live the crew’s journey, from pre-launch preparation to docking with the International Space Station. The broadcast should begin at 8:55 a.m. Friday (8), Brasilia time, and you can catch up on everything on the company’s website, click here.

NASA will have its own broadcast on your website, scheduled to begin at 11 am Brasilia time. SpaceX will also show everything live, and you can check it out in the video below:

It is worth noting that, depending on weather and technical factors, the launch date and times may change.