A private mission that includes two Saudi astronauts, including, for the first time, a Saudi woman, will lift off on May 8 from Florida bound for the International Space Station (ISS), Axiom Space and NASA officials announced Thursday.
Also on board will be Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut who has already visited the ISS three times, and John Shoffner, an American businessman who will be the pilot.
The mission, dubbed Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2), is scheduled to lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 10:43 p.m. May 8 (4:43 a.m. May 9 Paris time) from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. Washington, FL.
Second mission to the ISS organized by Axiom Space
They will use a SpaceX Dragon capsule to reach the International Space Station, where they will stay for ten days. This is the second mission to the ISS organized by Axiom Space, an American company.
A first mission, Ax-1, took three businessmen and a former astronaut to spend two weeks on the International Space Station in April 2022.
This space trip, in which a Saudi woman participates, is part of the ultra-conservative kingdom’s strategy to improve its image. But this is not the first such expedition for this oil-rich state. In 1985, Saudi Prince Sultan bin Salman took part in an American mission.
The United Arab Emirates has also participated in space missions. Last month, Emirati astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi joined the ISS for a six-month stay.
Source: BFM TV
