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CAPE CANAVERAL: The first Saudi astronauts launched decades ago with rockets towards International Space Station On board a chartered multi-million dollar flight on Sunday.
SpaceX The ticket-bearing crew, led by a retired NASA astronaut now employed by the company that arranged the flight, launched from the Kennedy Space Center. Also on board: an American businessman who now owns a sports car racing team.
The four must arrive at the space station in their capsule on Monday morning; They will spend just over a week there before returning home with the sprinklers off the coast of Florida.
Sponsored by the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Rayana BernawiA stem cell researcher, she became the first woman from the kingdom to go into space. Ali Al-Qarni, a fighter pilot in the Royal Saudi Air Force, joined her.
They are the first people to board a rocket from their country since a Saudi prince launched aboard the shuttle Discovery in 1985. Oddly enough, they will be greeted at the station by an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates.
“Hello from outer space! It’s a great feeling to watch Earth from this capsule,” Bernawi said after settling into orbit.
“When I look at outer space, I can’t help but think that this is just the beginning of an amazing journey for all of us,” added Al-Qarni.
Rounding out the visiting crew: Knoxville’s John Shoffner of Tennessee, former driver and owner of a sports car racing team that competes in Europe, and escort Peggy Whitson, the first female station commander to hold the American record for most time accumulated in space: 665 days and counting.
“It was an extraordinary ride,” Whitson said after reaching orbit. Her companions clapped their hands for joy.
It is the second private flight to the space station organized by Houston-based Axiom Space. The first was last year by three entrepreneurs, with another retired astronaut from NASA. The company plans to begin adding its own rooms to the station in a few more years, eventually removing them to form a self-contained outpost available for rent.
Axiom would not say how much Shoffner and Saudi Arabia are paying for the planned 10-day mission. The company had previously reported a ticket price of $55 million each.
The latest NASA price list shows charges per person, per day, of $2,000 for food and up to $1,500 for sleeping bags and other equipment. Need to get your stuff to the space station in advance? Set about $10,000 a pound ($20,000/kg), the same fee for disposal thereafter. Need your items intact? Double the price.
At least the email and video links are free.
Guests will have access to most of the station while conducting experiments, photographing the Earth and chatting with school children at home, showing how kites fly in space when attached to a propeller.
After decades away from space tourism, NASA is now embracing it with two special missions planned each year. The Russian Space Agency has been doing this, off and on, for decades.
“Our mission is to expand what we do in low Earth orbit around the world,” said Joel Montalbano, NASA’s space station program manager.
The first stage of SpaceX’s rover touched down at Cape Canaveral eight minutes after liftoff—a special treat for the launch-day crowd, which included about 60 Saudis. Matt Oundler of Axiom said: “It was a very exciting day
SpaceX The ticket-bearing crew, led by a retired NASA astronaut now employed by the company that arranged the flight, launched from the Kennedy Space Center. Also on board: an American businessman who now owns a sports car racing team.
The four must arrive at the space station in their capsule on Monday morning; They will spend just over a week there before returning home with the sprinklers off the coast of Florida.
Sponsored by the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Rayana BernawiA stem cell researcher, she became the first woman from the kingdom to go into space. Ali Al-Qarni, a fighter pilot in the Royal Saudi Air Force, joined her.
They are the first people to board a rocket from their country since a Saudi prince launched aboard the shuttle Discovery in 1985. Oddly enough, they will be greeted at the station by an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates.
“Hello from outer space! It’s a great feeling to watch Earth from this capsule,” Bernawi said after settling into orbit.
“When I look at outer space, I can’t help but think that this is just the beginning of an amazing journey for all of us,” added Al-Qarni.
Rounding out the visiting crew: Knoxville’s John Shoffner of Tennessee, former driver and owner of a sports car racing team that competes in Europe, and escort Peggy Whitson, the first female station commander to hold the American record for most time accumulated in space: 665 days and counting.
“It was an extraordinary ride,” Whitson said after reaching orbit. Her companions clapped their hands for joy.
It is the second private flight to the space station organized by Houston-based Axiom Space. The first was last year by three entrepreneurs, with another retired astronaut from NASA. The company plans to begin adding its own rooms to the station in a few more years, eventually removing them to form a self-contained outpost available for rent.
Axiom would not say how much Shoffner and Saudi Arabia are paying for the planned 10-day mission. The company had previously reported a ticket price of $55 million each.
The latest NASA price list shows charges per person, per day, of $2,000 for food and up to $1,500 for sleeping bags and other equipment. Need to get your stuff to the space station in advance? Set about $10,000 a pound ($20,000/kg), the same fee for disposal thereafter. Need your items intact? Double the price.
At least the email and video links are free.
Guests will have access to most of the station while conducting experiments, photographing the Earth and chatting with school children at home, showing how kites fly in space when attached to a propeller.
After decades away from space tourism, NASA is now embracing it with two special missions planned each year. The Russian Space Agency has been doing this, off and on, for decades.
“Our mission is to expand what we do in low Earth orbit around the world,” said Joel Montalbano, NASA’s space station program manager.
The first stage of SpaceX’s rover touched down at Cape Canaveral eight minutes after liftoff—a special treat for the launch-day crowd, which included about 60 Saudis. Matt Oundler of Axiom said: “It was a very exciting day
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