Ax-2 mission: World's 2nd private launch to space station targeted for lift off in May

The world's second private mission to the International Space Station will launch next month, Axiom Space announced. Named Axiom-2 or Ax-2, the mission will lift off with four astronauts from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, no earlier than May 9 at 8:13 am IST. These four astronauts will board SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft for their journey and spend 12 days in the space station. 

ALERT 🚨The #Ax2 mission is targeting no earlier than May 8 at 10:43 pm ET for the launch to the @Space_Station. Launching from @NASAKennedy, our multinational crew will fly on a @SpaceX Dragon to the station for their 12-day space mission. pic.twitter.com/ymW1G8lcDZ

— Axiom Space (@Axiom_Space)

The Ax-2 mission crew includes two members from the US - Peggy Whitson and John Shoffner-- and two from Saudi Arabia-- Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali Al-Qarni. Notably, Barnawi is on her way to make history by becoming the first ever woman from an Arab country to fly to the space station.

Barnawi (33) is a research laboratory specialist who has a Bachelor's degree in Biomedial Sciences (ReGD) from New Zealand's Otago University. She also has a Master's degree in Biomedical Science from Alfaisal University and has nine years of experience in cancer stem cell research. 

[Peggy Whitson, John Shoffner, Ali Al-Qarni and Rayyanah Barnawi (left to right); Image: NASA]

Her male counterpart, on the other hand, is an Air Force captain and has a Bachelor's degree in Aeronautical Sciences from the King Faisal Air Academy. With 12 years of experience on fighter aircraft, he has clocked in 2,387 hours of flying. As for the other two members, Shoffner, who will serve as the mission pilot is a businessman and an aviator whereas Whitson (the mission commander) is a retired NASA astronaut. 

After acquiring his pilot's license at the age of 17, Shoffner has amassed more than 8,500 flight hours and earned ratings for multiple aircraft types. Whitson, on the other hand, will become the first female commander of a private space mission. She already holds the record of being the first female commander of the space station, says NASA. Whitson will also strengthen her record for the longest cumulative time in space by a NASA astronaut.

As the name suggests, Ax-2 is Axiom Space's second private mission to the space station. The first mission launched on April 8 last year and four members spent 17 days on the ISS. Commanded by Axiom VP and former NASA astronaut Michel Lopez-Alegria, the rest three members reportedly paid around $55 million for their trip.