Two years after the Ax-1 mission completed 17 days on board the International Space Station (ISS), Israeli astronaut, Eytan Stibbe and his crew reunite, including crewmate Michael Lopez-Alegria, who is currently back on the ISS as part of the Ax-3 crew. As he returns to the station, Lopez-Alegria shares his broadening experience with the crew at the place he calls his second home and where he and other astronauts have the opportunity to represent multiple nationalities.

Significance of Private Astronauts Commercial Flights

The crewmates discuss the future of private space travel and the importance of commercial astronaut missions. Michael Lopez-Alegria explains the reason that these missions are essential and aligned with the workplan of the Axiom commercial space station.

Private astronaut missions allow for a better understanding of procedures, and organizational relationships in space. Through this hands-on experience, Axiom can learn how to live and work in space, offering opportunities to expand the group of entities that come to space stations, possibly forming a future market for exploration in space.

The contribution of private astronaut missions is undoubtedly impactful. Lopez-Alegria discusses the importance of making the space experience accessible. Different from government astronaut missions, private astronauts can prioritize social, educational and artistic sectors to be part of future commercial space activities.

TLE Experiment

21 years ago, Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli in space on the STS-107 mission, initiated experiments from space investigating transient luminous events (TLE). Astronaut Eytan Stibbe on Ax-1 continued this experiment, and today, Ax-3 crew also continue collecting valuable scientific data on the effects of thunderstorms and lighting.

Future of Space

When asked about the future of space from Axiom’s point of view, Michael details the potential evolution of the sector, with the objective of achieving Axioms’ 2029 goal of assembling and operating modules of their station in space. They are currently in construction in Italy, to be later transported to Houston and eventually launched into space.