On Monday, Rayyanah Barnawi, the first Arab woman in space, and Ali Al-Qarni, a fighter pilot, became the inaugural Saudi individuals to visit the International Space Station (ISS) as part of a private mission arranged by Axiom Space.
A SpaceX capsule carrying two Saudi astronauts docked with the International Space Station on Monday as part of a private mission chartered by Axiom Space.
Rayyanah Barnawi, a scientist who became the first Saudi & Arab woman to go into space, and Ali Al-Qarni, a trained fighter pilot, are the first two people from their country to fly to the orbital outpost.
“Greetings from outer space, I’m here not only representing myself, but representing the hopes and dreams of everyone back home, everyone in the region,” said Barnawi.
The fourth crew member is American businessman John Shoffner.
About two hours after docking, the quartet entered the ISS, joining the seven astronauts—three Russians, three Americans, and an Emirate—already on board.
The SpaceX rocket blasted off from Florida on Sunday, and the trip to the ISS, which orbits 250 miles (402.34 km) above the Earth, lasted about 16 hours.
This mission, named Ax-2, is the second fully private mission to visit the space station, following a first in April 2022. The members of Ax-2 will stay for about ten days and carry out some 20 experiments.
NASA is trying to seed a commercial space economy in the region of space known as “Low Earth Orbit,” allowing it to focus its energies on missions more profound into the solar system and beyond.
The Axiom Mission 1 launched last April, with the seats for three private astronauts accompanying an Axiom-employed astronaut, reported costing $55 million each. The cost of seats for Ax-2 has not been disclosed.
Miroslava Salazar with AFP
