A legendary astronaut, two Saudis and a wealthy adventurer blasted off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Sunday for a trip to the International Space Station, the second 'private astronaut mission' aimed at opening the high frontier to commercial development.
A legendary astronaut, two Saudis and a wealthy adventurer blasted off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Sunday for a trip to the International Space Station, the second"private astronaut mission" aimed at opening the high frontier to commercial development.
Whitson, now retired from NASA, is America's most experienced astronaut, with 665 days in space and 10 spacewalks to her credit during three earlier missions. Shoffner, a retired fiber optics entrepreneur, is a veteran private pilot, high-performance race car driver and skydiver. In past Crew Dragon flights, booster stages landed on offshore barges and were towed back to shore for refurbishment and reuse. But past experience showed actual performance was better than expected, leaving enough propellant on board to reverse course and return to the launch site. Heralded by twin sonic booms, the Ax-2 first stage dropped out of the clouds and settled to a picture perfect touchdown eight minutes after liftoff.
The Falcon 9's reusable first stage drops back to Earth for landing at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to wrap up its maiden flight.Alneyadi, the second UAE flier to reach space, is the first Arab astronaut to serve as a long-duration crew member aboard the ISS. With the arrival of Alqarni and Barnawi, three of the station's 11 crew members will represent the Middle East.
In the near term, the missions also provide a way for serious, technically competent private citizens and governments without access to space to visit the ISS for research and public outreach — goals encouraged by NASA.SpaceX
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A retired astronaut, a wealthy adventurer and two Saudi astronauts set for launch to space stationIt is the second 'private astronaut mission,' or PAM, to the International Space Station chartered by Axiom and sanctioned by NASA, which is trying to encourage private-sector development of low-Earth orbit.
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Warring factions in Sudan agree to temporary ceasefire, say US-Saudi mediatorsSudan’s warring factions have agreed to a new short-term ceasefire after several previous attempts to broker a truce that holds have failed. Meeting in the Saudi port city of Jeddah, the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces signed off on a seven-day ceasefire that is due to take effect on Monday 9:45 p.m. local time in Sudan, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia said Saturday in a joint statement. The talks in Jeddah had previously produced an agreement between the two sides on protecting civilians and easing the flow of humanitarian assistance to those affected by the conflict. But, earlier ceasefire deals have foundered amid accusations by both of violations.
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Warring factions in Sudan agree to temporary ceasefireMediators from the U.S. and Saudi Arabia announced the breakthrough.
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