On the 21st local time, the "Dragon" spacecraft of the US Space Exploration Technology Corporation carried a "private" space team composed of 4 astronauts from the United States and Saudi Arabia to the International Space Station.
The "Dragon" spacecraft is launched on the "Falcon 9" rocket
At 17:37 U.S. Eastern Time on the 21st (5:37 Beijing Time on the 22nd), the "Dragon" spacecraft was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a "Falcon 9" rocket. Subsequently, the first and second stages of the rocket were successfully separated. The rocket's first stage landed at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. According to SpaceX, this is the first successful land landing of the first stage of a rocket for a manned space mission. The "Dragon" spacecraft is expected to dock with the International Space Station at 9:16 U.S. Eastern Time on the 22nd.
The mission, code-named "Ax-2," was organized by the private American company Axiom Space Corporation as a commercial partnership with NASA. This is the second "private" space mission organized by the company. The four astronauts are Peggy Whitson and John Shoffner from the United States, and Ali Karni and Leyana Barnawi from Saudi Arabia. Whitson, a retired NASA astronaut, served as the mission commander; Shoffner served as the pilot; Carney and Barnawi served as mission experts.
According to the introduction of the American Axiom Aerospace Corporation, the "Ax-2" mission will last for 10 days, and the four astronauts will carry out more than 20 scientific and technological experiments, covering a wide range of fields such as life sciences, physical sciences, and engineering technology.
On April 8, 2022, the American "Dragon" spacecraft brought a "private" astronaut team to the International Space Station for the first time to perform the "Ax-1" mission organized by Axiom Aerospace Corporation. The aerospace team returned to Earth on the 25th of that month.
