CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Saudi Arabia’s first astronauts in many years rocketed towards the International Space Station on a chartered multimillion-dollar flight Sunday.
SpaceX launched the ticket-holding crew, led by a retired NASA astronaut now working for the corporate that organized the journey. Also on board: a U.S. businessman who now owns a sports activities automobile racing workforce.
The 4 ought to attain the area station of their capsule Monday morning; they’ll spend simply over every week there earlier than returning residence with a splashdown off the Florida coast.
Sponsored by the Saudi Arabian authorities, Rayyanah Barnawi, a stem cell researcher, grew to become the primary girl from the dominion to go to area. She was joined by Ali al-Qarni, a fighter pilot with the Royal Saudi Air Force.
They’re the primary from their nation to experience a rocket since a Saudi prince launched aboard shuttle Discovery in 1985. In a quirk of timing, they’ll be greeted on the station by an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates.
“This is a dream come true for everyone,” Barnawi mentioned earlier than the flight. “Just being able to understand that this is possible. If me and Ali can do it, then they can do it, too.”
Rounding out the visiting crew: Knoxville, Tennessee’s John Shoffner, former driver and proprietor of a sports activities automobile racing workforce that competes in Europe, and chaperone Peggy Whitson, the station’s first feminine commander who holds the U.S. report for many accrued time in area: 665 days and counting.
“It was a phenomenal ride,” Whitson mentioned after reaching orbit. Her crewmates clapped their arms in pleasure.
It’s the second non-public flight to the area station organized by Houston-based Axiom Space. The first was final yr by three businessmen, with one other retired NASA astronaut. The firm plans to start out including its personal rooms to the station in one other few years, finally eradicating them to type a stand-alone outpost accessible for rent.
Axiom received’t say how a lot Shoffner and Saudi Arabia are paying for the deliberate 10-day mission. The firm had beforehand cited a ticket worth of $55 million every.
NASA’s newest worth listing reveals per-person, per-day costs of $2,000 for meals and as much as $1,500 for sleeping luggage and different gear. Need to get your stuff to the area station prematurely? Figure roughly $10,000 per pound ($20,000 per kilogram), the identical charge for trashing it afterward. Need your objects again intact? Double the value.
At least the e-mail and video hyperlinks are free.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”