First Private Citizens Chosen to Visit International Space Station: $55 Million Tab for Each

[mystery-ak]

First Private Citizens Chosen to Visit International Space Station: $55 Million Tab for Each


Penny Starr 28 Jan 2021

Axiom Space has announced the first four commercial passengers to be rocketed to the International Space Station sometime in 2022.

The flight will be the “first-ever entirely private mission,” according to Axiom Space:

    The proposed historic Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) will consist of: former NASA astronaut and Axiom vice president Michael López-Alegría as commander; American entrepreneur and non-profit activist investor Larry Connor as pilot; Canadian investor and philanthropist Mark Pathy; and impact investor and philanthropist Eytan Stibbe of Israel.

    López-Alegría, who flew to space four times over a 20-year, record-setting career at NASA and last visited the ISS in 2007, will become the first person to ever command both a civil and a commercial human spaceflight mission. Connor will be the first private mission pilot in the annals of spaceflight.

    Pathy will be Canada’s 11th astronaut. Stibbe, a close personal friend of Columbia astronaut Ilan Ramon and a former Israeli Air Force pilot, will be Israel’s second. Both will fly as mission specialists.

“This collection of pioneers – the first space crew of its kind – represents a defining moment in humanity’s eternal pursuit of exploration and progress,” López-Alegría said. “I know from firsthand experience that what humans encounter in space is profound and propels them to make more meaningful contributions on returning to Earth. And as much as any astronaut who has come before them, the members of this crew have accomplished the sorts of things in life that equip them to accept that responsibility, act on that revelation, and make a truly global impact.

“I look forward to leading this crew and to their next meaningful and productive contributions to the human story, both on orbit and back home,” he said.

The mission will include the crew living aboard the U.S. segment of the International Space Station for approximately eight days where they will take part in research and philanthropic projects.

more
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/01/28/first-private-citizens-chosen-to-visit-international-space-station-55-million-tab-for-each/

[mountaineer]

Perhaps I missed it, but the article doesn't seem to say who will be paying this tab. If it's the passengers, well, sign me up! I could cover the first few feet of the mission, anyway.