CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The first private space station crew was introduced Tuesday: Three men who are each paying $55 million to fly on a SpaceX rocket.
They'll be led by a former NASA astronaut now working for Axiom Space, the Houston company that arranged the trip for next January.
“This is the first private flight to the International Space Station. It’s never been done before," said Axiom's chief executive and president Mike Suffredini, a former space station program manager for NASA.
While mission commander Michael Lopez-Alegria is well known in space circles, “the other three guys are just people who want to be able to go to space, and we’re providing that opportunity," Suffredini told The Associated Press.
The first crew will spend eight days at the space station, and will take one or two days to get there aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule following liftoff from Cape Canaveral.
Russia has been in the off-the-planet tourism business for years, selling rides to the International Space Station since 2001. Other space companies like Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin plan to take paying customers on up-and-down flights lasting just minutes. These trips — much more affordable with seats going for hundreds of thousands versus millions — could kick off this year.
Axiom's first customers include Larry Connor, a real estate and tech entrepreneur from Dayton, Ohio, Canadian financier Mark Pathy and Israeli businessman Eytan Stibbe, a close friend of Israel's first astronaut Ilan Ramon, who was killed in the space shuttle Columbia accident in 2003.
“These guys are all very involved and doing it for kind of for the betterment of their communities and countries, and so we couldn’t be happier with this makeup of the first crew because of their drive and their interest," Suffredini said.
Each of these first paying customers intends to perform science research in orbit, he said, along with educational outreach.
Lopez-Alegria, a former space station resident and spacewalking leader, called the group a “collection of pioneers."
Tom Cruise was mentioned last year as a potential crew member; NASA top officials confirmed he was interested in filming a movie at the space station. There was no word Tuesday on whether Cruise will catch the next Axiom flight. Suffredini declined to comment.
Each of the private astronauts had to pass medical tests and will get 15 weeks of training, according to Suffredini. The 70-year-old Connor will become the second-oldest person to fly in space, after John Glenn's shuttle flight in 1998 at age 77. He'll also serve under Lopez-Alegria as the capsule pilot.
Axiom plans about two private missions a year to the space station. It also is working to launch its own live-in compartments to the station beginning in 2024. This section would be detached from the station once it's retired by NASA and the international partners, and become its own private outpost.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
11 things you didn’t know about applying to be a NASA astronaut
Help wanted
Currently, NASA has 48 astronauts in its corps and is seeking more applicants.
Sign of the times
According to WHTR, the application closed on March 31 and included, for the first time, an online assessment portion.
Stem's the word
One of the basic application requirements to be an astronaut in the next class of Artemis Generation is a master’s degree in a STEM-related field. According to the NASA website, “The requirement for the master’s degree can also be met by: Two years (36 semester hours or 54 quarter hours) of work toward a Ph.D. program in a related science, technology, engineering or math field; A completed doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathic medicine degree; Completion (or current enrollment that will result in completion by June 2021) of a nationally recognized test pilot school program.
Learning to fly
Being an astronaut for NASA requires a bit of flight experience, specifically, “at least 1,000 hours of pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft,” according to NASA’s website. They can also have at least two years of professional experience related to their degree which can include jobs like teaching kindergarten.
Extras
Space.com notes that astronaut candidates (known by the acronym ASCAN) can help themselves in the application process by having other skills like scuba diving, wilderness experience and fluency in a foreign language (Space.com notes that all astronauts are required to speak Russian).
Height requirement
ASCANs should be between 62 and 75 in. (5’2” to 6’3” in.) to meet NASA’s “anthropomorphic requirements,” Science Direct notes. According to the NASA website, these contemporary requirements are much more flexible. During the first flight in 1959, astronauts had to be shorter than 5 feet 11 inches to fit in the Mercury spacecraft.
Get your sea legs before space
According to Science Direct, ASCANs have to also pass a swim test, become SCUBA certified and pass a military water survival test. CBS notes that the swim test includes swimming three lengths of a pool and treading water for 10 minutes in a flight suit and tennis shoes.
If at first you don't succeed
Many astronauts don’t get accepted on the first try, Space.com says. In fact, Clay Anderson applied 15 times and waited two more years before becoming an astronaut and serving as a member of the Expedition 15 crew aboard the International Space Station in 1998.
I can see clearly now
Perfect vision is crucial for ASCANS—even if they need a little help to achieve it. Part of the physical requirements to be an astronaut are 20/20 vision either with or without glasses or contacts.
A shrinking application pool
The NASA application, according to Wired, drew in more than 18,000 applicants. Of those applicants, Wired reports that around 14,000 will meet the basic requirements. A review panel of experienced astronauts then whittles down the applicant pool to 500. After reference checks and a first round of interviews, the pool goes from 500 to 100 to around 50 or 60 who go on to the second round of interviews. After the intense space-flight physical, between eight and 14 applicants will become astronauts and begin training
Age ain't nothing but a number
Astronauts have been a wide range of ages according to CBS. Most fall between the ages of 26 and 46, with the average being about 34 years.
