Record-holding astronaut Peggy Whitson and mission pilot John Shoffner to lead Axiom Space’s Ax-2 mission to enable new research in space 25 May 2021Houston – Axiom Space on Tuesday revealed the commander and pilot of its second commercial mission proposed to fly to the International Space Station and announced the proposed crew’s intended research while on orbit. Axiom will compete to fly the Ax-2 mission when NASA announces the next private astronaut mission opportunity. If awarded, Ax-2 will further the Houston-based space infrastructure leader’s expansion of the commercial human spaceflight market and cement the research opportunities it can make possible for private industry in low-Earth orbit. Whitson, one of the world’s most revered astronauts who during a 22-year career at NASA became the ISS’ first female commander, the first ISS Science Officer, and set and still holds the American record for time spent in space, will return to flight as a private citizen and commander of Ax-2. Alongside her as the planned mission pilot will be John Shoffner – a pilot, champion GT racer, and active supporter of life science research from Knoxville, Tenn.Whitson and Shoffner will train together in Axiom’s standard astronaut program to prepare them to lead the flight. In addition to their flight training, they will learn how to translate terrestrial single-cell genomic methods to an orbital science process in collaboration with Pleasanton, Calif.-based 10x Genomics, a global leader in developing products to master biology for advancing human health whose offerings are used by all of the top 100 global research institutions.“I’m thrilled to get to fly to space again and lead one of the first of these pioneering missions, marking a new era of human spaceflight,” Whitson said. “But even more than that, I’m eager for the chance on Ax-2 to open space up to the first full generation of private astronauts and directly link John to the research opportunities on the ISS. In the time we’ve already spent together as crewmates, it’s clear to me that John will be an excellent pilot and researcher. It’s a pleasure to take him under my wing.”The mission will complete an unconventional path to space for Shoffner, a lifelong athlete and health & science enthusiast."Growing up, I closely followed every NASA flight of Gemini and Apollo,” Shoffner said. "Now to experience astronaut training teamed with Peggy is an honor. I am also excited about our upcoming work with 10x Genomics in this first step towards making their single-cell technologies available to researchers in a microgravity environment. I look forward to the process of testing and validating this technology for future groundbreaking work in low-Earth orbit.”In addition to standard training on ISS systems, Shoffner will receive specialized spacecraft operations training to assist the commander during flight as pilot of the crew capsule and develop with Whitson the protocols necessary to conduct single-cell sequencing experiments in microgravity.Whitson and Shoffner are also currently training to serve as backup commander and pilot for Axiom’s Ax-1, the first-ever fully private mission to the ISS slated for launch on a SpaceX Crew Dragon in early 2022. As with this proposed Ax-2 mission, Axiom will also compete for the opportunity to fly commercial missions to the ISS approximately every six months, subject to NASA approval and as traffic to the ISS allows. “Humankind’s expansion off the planet, and the benefits it can bring back, will only be sustained by building and serving demand for expanded life and work in Low Earth Orbit,” Axiom CEO Michael Suffredini said. “There is no one better than Peggy – who would be history’s second private mission commander to the ISS – to lead the way on a mission so central to that plan, and we are thrilled to have beside her a pilot as driven and committed to this vision as John to cement this new era.”
Out of this world excited about being named Commander of the Axiom 2 flight to the @Space_Station!! I am looking forward to showing my pilot, @johnpshoffner, some space ninja secrets too. #Ax2
Fantastic to see Peggy Whitson going to space again! Not quite ready to hang up her helmet, it would appear. An accomplished astronaut and holder of multiple records, including most time spent in space by any NASA astronaut.
Just hanging around with my commander @AstroPeggy The training for Ax-2 has officially begun.Axiom_Space #axiomspace #privateastronaut #astronaut #zerog #nasa
Well they do not mention the vehicle so I would keep it in an Axiom thread till it s officialized
Quote from: hektor on 05/25/2021 04:18 pmWell they do not mention the vehicle so I would keep it in an Axiom thread till it s officializedTrue it’s not yet officially Dragon, but even though Peggy has flown Soyuz before I don’t see an American being allowed to command a Soyuz (or a Russian a Dragon).
Quote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 05/26/2021 12:19 pmQuote from: hektor on 05/25/2021 04:18 pmWell they do not mention the vehicle so I would keep it in an Axiom thread till it s officializedTrue it’s not yet officially Dragon, but even though Peggy has flown Soyuz before I don’t see an American being allowed to command a Soyuz (or a Russian a Dragon).Actually I was thinking of Starliner
In one year SpaceX has managed to do three flights with two vehicles. What would prevent Starliner to do the same ?An this is with the generous assumption that crew commercial needs two Starliner flights a year.
Has Axiom stated the planned mission length for AX-2 and if so, what is it?(Ditto for AX-1)
The flight is not yet on the space station schedule. Axiom Space will have to compete for a flight opportunity whenever NASA announces the next “window” for a private visit to the station. But a launch opportunity is expected to open up in the fall 2022 timeframe.
For the AX-2 mission, Whitson and Shoffner plan to test hardware built by 10X Genomics, a biotechnology company that builds equipment for gene sequencing.“Researchers have been wanting to have this capability on orbit,” Shoffner said. “They currently orbit and test samples and bring them down and then run them on 10X Genomics equipment on Earth. But the sample fidelity can shift between the launch and the recovery. So researchers want this.”