{"id":1426155,"date":"2022-04-08T17:14:42","date_gmt":"2022-04-08T21:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1426155"},"modified":"2022-04-08T17:14:46","modified_gmt":"2022-04-08T21:14:46","slug":"first-all-private-astronaut-crew-blasts-off-to-international-space-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/first-all-private-astronaut-crew-blasts-off-to-international-space-station\/","title":{"rendered":"First All-Private Astronaut Crew Blasts Off To International Space Station"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffirst-all-private-astronaut-crew-blasts-off-to-international-space-station%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1426155&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2022\/04\/83B11E0D-FD17-4654-BAF9-35480CC1CB79_1_201_a.jpeg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.3.0\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\">On Friday, the first all-private crew to head to the International Space Station launched.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/lifestyle\/science\/all-private-astronaut-team-set-landmark-launch-space-station-2022-04-08\/\"><span class=\"s1\">Reuters<\/span><\/a>, the flight is being \u201chailed by industry executives and NASA as a milestone in the commercialization of low-Earth orbit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The crew blasted off at 11:17 a.m. EDT, departing from\u00a0NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The outlet noted, \u201cLive video webcast by Axiom showed the 25-story-tall SpaceX launch vehicle \u2013 consisting of a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket topped by its Crew Dragon capsule \u2013 streaking into the blue skies over Florida\u2019s Atlantic coast atop a fiery, yellowish tail of exhaust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__base__22dCE body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__OOj6H\" data-testid=\"paragraph-4\">\u201cNine minutes after launch, the rocket\u2019s upper stage delivered the crew capsule into its preliminary orbit, according to launch commentators. Meanwhile, the rocket\u2019s reusable lower stage, having detached from the rest of the spacecraft, flew itself back to Earth and safely touched down on a landing platform floating on a drone vessel in the Atlantic,\u201d the outlet added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">If everything is successful, the group will get to the space station on Saturday, following a flight of more than twenty hours, \u201cand the autonomously operated Crew Dragon will dock with the orbiting outpost some 250 miles (400 km) above the Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Kate Tice, a launch commentator, said the liftoff was \u201cabsolutely picture-perfect\u201d and a member of the crew was heard saying to mission control, \u201cThat was a hell of a ride.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SpaceX\/status\/1512474889281687555\">tweeted<\/a> a video of the launch on Friday:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Falcon 9 launches the first all-private human spaceflight mission to the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Space_Station?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@space_station<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/krDfQyaVTO\">pic.twitter.com\/krDfQyaVTO<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SpaceX\/status\/1512474889281687555?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 8, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\">The project is a collaboration between Axiom, SpaceX, and NASA.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cWe\u2019re taking commercial business off the face of the Earth and putting it up in space,\u201d NASA chief Bill Nelson said prior to the flight, noting that the change allows his group to concentrate on sending humans to the moon, Mars, and other areas of deep space.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Reuters noted:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__base__22dCE body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__OOj6H\" data-testid=\"paragraph-20\"><em>Launched to orbit in 1998, the space station has been continuously occupied since 2000 under a U.S.-Russian-led partnership including Canada, Japan and 11 European countries.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__base__22dCE body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__OOj6H\" data-testid=\"paragraph-21\"><em>NASA has no plans to invest in a new space station once ISS is retired, sometime around 2030. But NASA selected Axiom in 2020 to build a new commercial wing to the orbiting laboratory, currently spanning the length of a football field.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__base__22dCE body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__OOj6H\" data-testid=\"paragraph-22\"><em>Plans call for eventually detaching the Axiom modules from the rest of the station when it is ready to be decommissioned. Other private operators are expected to place their own stations in orbit once ISS is out of service.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\">As The Daily Wire previously <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/first-all-private-space-crew-set-for-launch-this-week\"><span class=\"s1\">reported<\/span><\/a>, the launch was originally set for Wednesday, but an Axiom spokesperson announced Monday that the pushback would give SpaceX more time to finish pre-launch processing tasks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The crew of four men include Lopez-Alegria, the mission commander and vice president of business development at Axiom. Joining him will be Larry Connor, a tech and real estate businessman. \u201cRounding out the Ax-1 team are investor-philanthropist and former Israeli fighter pilot Eytan Stibbe, 64, and Canadian businessman and philanthropist Mark Pathy, 52, both serving as mission specialists,\u201d Reuters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/lifestyle\/science\/first-private-astronaut-mission-space-station-readies-launch-2022-04-04\/\"><span class=\"s1\">added<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Stibbe will be the second Israeli in space, following Ilan Ramon, who died with six NASA crew members in the 2003 Columbia shuttle tragedy.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Lopez-Alegria pointed out that the crew \u201care not space tourists\u201d at a previous news briefing, per Reuters. Lopez-Alegria explained that the crew has gone through intense astronaut training with SpaceX and NASA. They will also be conducting biomedical research.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cIt is the beginning of many beginnings for commercializing low-Earth orbit,\u201d Axiom\u2019s co-founder and executive chairman, Kam Ghaffarian, told Reuters in an interview. \u201cWe\u2019re like in the early days of the internet, and we haven\u2019t even imagined all the possibilities, all the capabilities, that we\u2019re going to be providing in space.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The international implications of space travel have been ever-present as the world watches the ongoing conflict in Ukraine after Russia invaded the country.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Last month, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/russia-ukraine-putin-spacex-kazakhstan-space-exploration-24f16612583a55d4e504d6c6909090d3\"><span class=\"s1\">returned<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to Earth after spending 355 days at the International Space Station in a new United States record.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">As The Daily Wire\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/nasa-astronaut-returns-to-earth-in-russian-spacecraft\"><span class=\"s1\">reported<\/span><\/a>, Vande Hei\u00a0came back in a Russian capsule, landing in Kazakhstan, after his journey. He returned with Russian Space Agency\u2019s Pyotr Dubrov, who spent the past year in space as well, and Anton Shkaplerov.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Russia and the United States work together in space and \u201cNASA has said it cannot operate the station without the Russians, which provide the propulsion that allows the ISS to keep its orbit and maneuver when needed. Russia needs NASA, as well, as the space agency provides power to the Russian segment of the station,\u201d per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/technology\/2022\/03\/30\/mark-vande-hei-return\/\"><span class=\"s1\">The Washington Post<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Before leaving the space station, Shkaplerov called his fellow astronauts \u201cmy space brothers and space sister.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cPeople have problem on Earth. On orbit \u2026 we are one crew,\u201d Shkaplerov reportedly said in a live NASA TV broadcast. The space station is a symbol of \u201cfriendship and cooperation and \u2026 future of exploration of space.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest growing conservative media companies for breaking news, investigative reporting, sports, podcasts, in-depth analysis, books, and entertainment for a reason: because we believe in what we do. We believe in our country, in the value of truth and the freedom to speak it, and in the right to challenge tyranny wherever we see it. Believe the same? <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><span class=\"s2\"><i>Become a member now and join our mission.<\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Friday, the first all-private crew to head to the International Space Station launched.According to Reuters, the flight is being \u201chailed by industry executives and NASA as a milestone in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1426155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1426155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1426155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1426155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1426155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1426155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1426155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}