An important milestone was reached on Sunday as the first Saudi Arabian astronauts in decades boarded a million-dollar chartered flight to the International Space Station. The Saudi Arabian government supported the crew, which was led by a former NASA astronaut who now works for the corporation in charge of the missions planning. A US businessman who owns a sports car racing team also accompanied them.The crew is scheduled to land at the space station on Monday morning and spend a little more than a week performing tasks there before landing safely back on Earth off the coast of Florida. Through this mission, stem cell researcher Rayyanah Barnawi became the first Saudi Arabian woman to travel into space. She was joined by Ali al-Qarni, a fighter pilot with the Royal Saudi Air Force, another Saudi astronaut in the crew.The second all-private astronaut mission has lifted off! Go #Ax2 #TeamAxiom https://t.co/KXNhuv0LSk— Axiom Space (@Axiom_Space) May 21, 2023A historic flightThis is the first time Saudis have travelled to space since a Saudi royal went aboard the Discovery shuttle in 1985. Unexpectedly, an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates will welcome them to the space station. When asked about her excitement before takeoff, Barnawi said, “This is a dream come true for anyone. Just knowing that this is a possibility. They can do it too if Ali and I can do it.Other crew membersJohn Shoffner, a former sports car racing team owner and driver who races in Europe, also joined the crew. Peggy Whitson, the stations first female commander and the US record holder for the most time spent in space, serves as their chaperone. Falcon 9 launches Ax-2, Dragons 10th human spaceflight pic.twitter.com/siptJyW3Se— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 22, 2023An Axiom Space initiativeThe launch was carried out by SpaceX and is the second private voyage to the International Space Station organised by Houston-based Axiom Space. Axiom Space intends to build its own independent outpost on the station that will be available for hire in the future, and the business hopes to begin building its own modules within a few years.The cost of the missionWhile the actual cost of the voyage for Shoffner and Saudi Arabia is unknown, Axiom Space previously estimated a $55 million per person ticket price. According to NASAs most recent pricing list, additional expenditures include $2,000 a day for food and up to $1,500 for equipment such as sleeping bags. The cost of delivering objects to the space station in advance is around $10,000 per pound ($20,000 per kilogramme), with the same amount applied for disposal. Email and video links, on the other hand, are free of charge.Rising popularity and acceptance of space tourismGuests will have access to the majority of the space stations facilities throughout their stay, including those for performing research, photographing Earth, and communicating with students back home. NASA is now embracing space tourism after years of opposition, with plans for two private missions per year. For decades, the Russian Space Agency has offered such opportunities infrequently.NASAs space station programme manager, Joel Montalbano, stated that the agencys objective is to expand low-Earth orbit activities worldwide, saying, “Our goal is to expand what we do in low-Earth orbit across the world.” The SpaceX rockets first-stage booster successfully landed at Cape Canaveral for future reuse.Matt Candler, Axioms chief technology officer, hailed the successful launch as an exciting day, especially observing the boosters return to the launch site. He emphasised that the mission lays the foundation for what they expect will be the future of low-Earth orbit.
