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Private mission with Saudi astronauts docks with ISS

23May

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Technology

Private mission with Saudi astronauts docks with ISS

[ad_1] A SpaceX capsule carrying two Saudi astronauts docked with the International Space Station on Monday, as part of a private mission chartered by Axiom Space.Rayyanah Barnawi, a scientist who became the first Saudi woman to go into space, and Ali Al-Qarni, a trained fighter pilot, are the first two people from their country to go to the orbital outpost. "It was a lovely ride," said mission commander Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut who made the voyage three times in the past, adding: "It was the softest docking I've ever felt." The fourth crew member is American businessman John Shoffner.About two hours after docking, the capsule's hatch will be opened to allow the four to enter the ISS, where they will join the seven astronauts already on board (three Russians, three America...

SpaceX delivers Russian, Native American women to station

[ad_1] A Russian cosmonaut who caught a U.S. lift to the International Space Station arrived at her new home Thursday for a five-month stay, accompanied by a Japanese astronaut and two from NASA, including the first Native American woman in space. The SpaceX capsule pulled up to the station a day after launching into orbit. The linkup occurred 260 miles (420 kilometers) above the Atlantic, just off the west coast of Africa. It was the first time in 20 years that a Russian hitched a ride from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the result of a new agreement reached despite friction over the war in Ukraine. Cosmonaut Anna Kikina joins two Russians already at the orbiting outpost. She'll live and work on the Russian side until March, before returning to Earth in the same SpaceX capsule. ...

Saudi Arabian mission on SpaceX capsule to include first female Arab astronaut

[ad_1] Saudi Arabia's mission to the International Space Station next year aboard a SpaceX capsule will include the world's first female Arab astronaut. Saudi Arabia's mission to the International Space Station next year aboard a SpaceX capsule will include a woman who would become the world's first female Arab astronaut, according to Axiom Space, the U.S. company arranging the mission for the kingdom. Neither Axiom nor the Saudi government provided the name for the female astronaut, who will be accompanied by another Saudi and two Americans as part of Axiom's second private mission to the space station, slated for early 2023. A U.S. official familiar with the mission said the Ax-2 passengers have yet to receive approval...