Training for the crew that will form the first fully private mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in January 2022 will begin soon, as announced by Axiom Space during a joint press conference with the American space agency, NASA. The mission, named “AX-1,” is scheduled to launch four individuals on a rocket leased from another space company, SpaceX, and is expected to last about ten days, with "seven or eight" of those days spent in orbit, according to Axiom Space's President Michael Suffredini.
Among the four crew members, only one has experience in the field: former NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria, who has previously been to the station. The other three are beginners—businessmen, one American, one Canadian, and one Israeli—who have not participated in any previous spaceflight. The four will stay in the American segment of the ISS and intend to conduct scientific experiments there.
### Training Starts Next Week
Michael Lopez-Alegria said on Monday, "We will begin what can be called actual training next week," which will include tests in a centrifuge that simulates acceleration. Full-time training will begin in August for Michael Lopez-Alegria, and for the American pilot of the mission, Larry Connor, in September.
Starting in October, the four will complete their contracts to primarily train in Houston, Texas, on the ISS systems and SpaceX's "Dragon" spacecraft that will take them to the station.
### Key Training Tasks
The training will cover essential tasks such as "how to use the toilet" and "communication systems," as explained by the astronaut. This mission represents a "first step" for Axiom Space toward its goal of establishing the first commercial space station, which will initially be connected to the ISS.
The four crew members will embark on a "camping" trip to Alaska next July, as the COVID-19 pandemic has previously limited their in-person meetings to just "a few times."
NASA announced in 2019 that it was prepared to welcome tourists to the ISS as part of its move to detach from it and focus on deeper space exploration. This has become possible thanks to SpaceX, which has enabled human missions to space from U.S. soil with its rockets.
The American space agency hopes to send two missions of this kind each year. The head of low-Earth orbit operations at NASA, Angela Hart, stated, "The level of demand today exceeds the opportunities that will be available at the station."
### Previous Flights
Prior to the AX-1 mission, SpaceX also launched a fully private mission into orbit in September called "Inspiration 4," but it will not head to the ISS. In relation to the station, SpaceX has partnered with another organization, Space Adventures.
The ISS had previously welcomed seven space tourists from 2001 to 2009, but their flights were made aboard Russian Soyuz rockets.
