NASA: International Space Station Double Flight 10-Day Tour, Space Tour Group Launch at the end of March

On February 2, local time, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that NASA and its international partners approved four space tourists to participate in the first private manned space mission Ax-1 of the U.S. start-up commercial space enterprise Axiom Space, which is scheduled to be launched by the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 30, and the four space tourists will take the manned Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station. Embark on a 10-day space trip.

From left are Larry Connor, Michael López-Alegría, Mark Pathy and Eytan Stibbe.

Members of the "space tour group" include former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría, American entrepreneur Larry Connor, Canadian investor Mark Pathy and Israeli businessman Eytan Stibbe.

Michael, who has traveled to space four times before leaving NASA in 2012 and is currently vice president of Axiom Space, will serve as mission commander on the Ax-1 mission, Connor in his 70s as pilot, Anderson Passy, a Canadian, and Stipby, an Israeli, as mission experts. The four passengers travelled 2 days round trip and planned to spend eight days in the orbital laboratory for scientific, educational and commercial activities. Michael had said the mission was "100 percent not a vacation" for the other 3 passengers, who collaborated with various agencies, hospitals and other research entities.

Ax-1 was originally scheduled to operate in October 2021, but was postponed until early 2022 and is currently scheduled for launch on March 30. NASA said the proposed mission activities are still under review and will be approved before the flight. Axiom Space previously revealed that the Ax-1 crew intends to work with various organizations on Earth to conduct microgravity studies in orbit.

Since August 2021, 4 people have been trained at NASA's Johnson Space Center and other NASA facilities to familiarize themselves with space station systems, scientific facilities, and emergency procedures. Last December, NASA and the Ax-1 mission operations team began a joint simulation to familiarize themselves with the dynamic phases of private astronauts traveling to and from the space station.

NASA is developing a low-Earth orbit economy with the goal of building a strong commercial market in low Earth orbit with the private sector. In January 2020, it chose Axiom Space to design and develop commercial modules for connecting the space station. NASA also recently announced that Axiom Space has begun negotiations on a second private astronaut mission and announced that it has selected a number of companies to design and develop the space station.

NASA said the strategy will provide the services the government needs at a lower cost, while NASA can focus on the Artemis lunar mission in preparation for landing on Mars, while continuing to use low-Earth orbit as a training and testing ground for deep space missions.