The American born in Spain Michael Lopez-Alegria, former commander of the International Space Station (ISS), 63, will lead for the company axiom the first fully private mission to the space post, which must Take off Wednesday, April 6th.
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On April 6, from the Kennedy Space Center (Florida), should fly ax-1, a 10-day private mission to the International Space Station (ISS), the first of its kind. On board the ship chartered by Spacex, three passengers: the American contractor Larry Connor (pilot), the Canadian contractor Mark Pathy and the Israeli philanthropist Eytan Stibbe (mission specialists), as well as Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria. This 63-year-old Spanish American, four stays in space for its credit, is one of NASA’s most seasoned astronauts, which ordered the ISS in 2006. However, he left the space agency. American in 2012 to promote commercial skilled spatial flights, then presiding for the commercial Spaceflight Federation. In 2016, he joined the company Axiom Space, which organizes private inhabited flights, for a ticket price estimated by the New York Times to $ 55 million (about 49.4 million euros). Axiom Space, which, for commercial reasons, keeps the secret about how Spacex, NASA and the States that finance the ISS are remunerated, aims to build its own space station.
You reported Want “placing very high the bar for private astronaut missions”. What do you mean by there?
I want the kind of mission that Axiom is distant from what the press calls “space tourism”. We really imitate a mission of professional astronauts, and have carried out a hard drive. The only difference is the level of information about the ISS and the fact that passengers participate privately, and non-governmental. As at NASA missions or the European Space Agency, most of our time will be devoted to scientific experiences and commitments to the public. This is a first one, but we want it to become a standard, because it will make these pseudo-professional missions all the more respectable and acceptable by the community, very rigorous, inhabited flights.
How has your training particular training?
My three colleagues did not have to become familiar with the ISS control systems, its electrical circuits, its software, nor with the toilet mechanics: it’s not their job to operate The spatial outpost. However, they reached a level of training that allows them to be safe on board, to take care of themselves, to react in case of emergency. The training focused on the 25 embedded experiences they prepared with their partner, academic and private institutions. Larry Connor will study cardiac health in microgravity and the impact of the space environment on senest cells [which have ceased to divide, and are related to old age diseases]. Mark Pathy will evaluate holoportation technologies [which use mixedly mixed communication using 3D holograms] and study neuro-eyepiece syndrome associated with space flights [of which many astronauts staying long in space . Eytan Stibbe, he will lead to experiments in optics, biology, agricultural sciences, and interact with young people in Israel.
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