CAPE CANAVERAL: Saudi Arabia’s first astronauts in a long time rocketed against the International Space Station on a chartered multimillion-dollar flight Sunday.
SpaceX introduced the ticket-holding staff, led by means of a retired Nasa astronaut now operating for the corporate that organized the shuttle from Kennedy Space Center. Also on board: a US businessman who now owns a sports activities automobile racing staff.
The 4 must succeed in the gap station of their tablet Monday morning; they will spend simply over every week there prior to returning house with a splashdown off the Florida coast.
Sponsored by means of the Saudi Arabian executive, Rayyanah Barnawi, a stem mobile researcher, turned into the primary girl from the dominion to visit area. She used to be joined by means of Ali al-Qarni, a fighter pilot with the Royal Saudi Air Force.
They’re the primary from their nation to journey a rocket since a Saudi prince introduced aboard commute Discovery in 1985. In a quirk of timing, they will be greeted on the station by means of an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates.
“Hello from outer space! It feels amazing to be viewing Earth from this capsule,” Barnawi said after settling into orbit.
Added al-Qarni: “As I look out into space, I can’t help but think this is just the beginning of a great journey for all of us.”
Rounding out the visiting crew: Knoxville, Tennessee’s John Shoffner, former driver and owner of a sports car racing team that competes in Europe, and chaperone Peggy Whitson, the station’s first female commander who holds the US record for most accumulated time in space: 665 To install days and counting.
“It was a phenomenal ride,” Whitson said after reaching orbit. Her crewmates clapped their hands in joy.
It’s the second private flight to the space station organized by Houston-based Axiom Space. The first was last year by three businessmen, along with another retired Nasa astronaut. The company plans to start adding its own rooms to the station in another few years, eventually removing them to form a stand-alone outpost available for hire.
Axiom won’t say how much Shoffner and Saudi Arabia are paying for the planned 10-day mission. The company had previously cited a ticket price of $55 million each.
NASA’s latest price list shows per-person, per-day charges of $2,000 for food and up to $1,500 for sleeping bags and other gear. Need to get your stuff to the space station in advance? Figure roughly $10,000 per pound ($20,000 per kilogram), the same fee for trashing it afterward. Need your items back intact? Double the price.
At least the email and video links are free.
The guests will have access to most of the station as they conduct experiments, photograph Earth and chat with schoolchildren back home, demonstrating how kites fly in space when attached to a fan.
After decades of shunning space tourism, Nasa now embraces it with two private missions planned a year. The Russian Space Agency has been doing it, off and on, for decades.
“Our job is to expand what we do in low-Earth orbit across the globe,” said Nasa’s space station program manager Joel Montalbano.
SpaceX’s first-stage booster landed back at Cape Canaveral eight minutes after liftoff — a special treat for the launch day crowd, which included about 60 Saudis. “It was a very, very exciting day,” mentioned Axiom’s Matt Ondler.
SpaceX introduced the ticket-holding staff, led by means of a retired Nasa astronaut now operating for the corporate that organized the shuttle from Kennedy Space Center. Also on board: a US businessman who now owns a sports activities automobile racing staff.
The 4 must succeed in the gap station of their tablet Monday morning; they will spend simply over every week there prior to returning house with a splashdown off the Florida coast.
Sponsored by means of the Saudi Arabian executive, Rayyanah Barnawi, a stem mobile researcher, turned into the primary girl from the dominion to visit area. She used to be joined by means of Ali al-Qarni, a fighter pilot with the Royal Saudi Air Force.
They’re the primary from their nation to journey a rocket since a Saudi prince introduced aboard commute Discovery in 1985. In a quirk of timing, they will be greeted on the station by means of an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates.
“Hello from outer space! It feels amazing to be viewing Earth from this capsule,” Barnawi said after settling into orbit.
Added al-Qarni: “As I look out into space, I can’t help but think this is just the beginning of a great journey for all of us.”
Rounding out the visiting crew: Knoxville, Tennessee’s John Shoffner, former driver and owner of a sports car racing team that competes in Europe, and chaperone Peggy Whitson, the station’s first female commander who holds the US record for most accumulated time in space: 665 To install days and counting.
“It was a phenomenal ride,” Whitson said after reaching orbit. Her crewmates clapped their hands in joy.
It’s the second private flight to the space station organized by Houston-based Axiom Space. The first was last year by three businessmen, along with another retired Nasa astronaut. The company plans to start adding its own rooms to the station in another few years, eventually removing them to form a stand-alone outpost available for hire.
Axiom won’t say how much Shoffner and Saudi Arabia are paying for the planned 10-day mission. The company had previously cited a ticket price of $55 million each.
NASA’s latest price list shows per-person, per-day charges of $2,000 for food and up to $1,500 for sleeping bags and other gear. Need to get your stuff to the space station in advance? Figure roughly $10,000 per pound ($20,000 per kilogram), the same fee for trashing it afterward. Need your items back intact? Double the price.
At least the email and video links are free.
The guests will have access to most of the station as they conduct experiments, photograph Earth and chat with schoolchildren back home, demonstrating how kites fly in space when attached to a fan.
After decades of shunning space tourism, Nasa now embraces it with two private missions planned a year. The Russian Space Agency has been doing it, off and on, for decades.
“Our job is to expand what we do in low-Earth orbit across the globe,” said Nasa’s space station program manager Joel Montalbano.
SpaceX’s first-stage booster landed back at Cape Canaveral eight minutes after liftoff — a special treat for the launch day crowd, which included about 60 Saudis. “It was a very, very exciting day,” mentioned Axiom’s Matt Ondler.
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