Peggy Whitson spent almost two years of her life in space as an axiom-space employee and a former NASA astronaut.
Next week, she will lead a mission with three men representing a country that hasn’t sent anyone into space for over 40 years.
Whitson, 65, will command an AX-4 mission targeting the lift-off as early as 8:22am on Tuesday from Kennedy Space Center launch pad 39-A. Transport three axiom customers. One was paid from India and Hungary, the seats were paid by the government, and one from Poland through the European Space Agency.
Whitson flew three times for NASA before joining Axiom. She led the Ax-2 mission in 2023, tallying in space for more than 675 days. She is mostly a woman keeps records in space for most Americans. All four missions were on the International Space Station. The same applies to the AX-4 flight.
“For me, going back to space is always a special experience. Every mission is different,” she said in a call with the media on Tuesday. “Every crew brings something new to the table, and I was very impressed with the dedication and work ethic and passion of this team.
“It was a joy to train with them. I look forward to seeing them meet in microgravity.”
Its crew is India’s Shuvanshu Shukra and serves as mission pilots. Mission specialist, Poland’s Swabos Uznasky and astronauts for the ESA project. Hungarian mission specialist Tiball Cap.
The quartet will climb the new SpaceX Crew Dragon (which will get its official name when it reaches orbit) will be fired on top of the Falcon 9 rocket only in human spaceflight from the Space Coast, following the release of Crew 10 in March.
The Dragon is scheduled to dock on the space station at 12:30pm on Wednesday. Meanwhile, crews will be taking part in a heavy schedule of science experiments, technology demonstrations and media outreach.
“We will carry out research that spans demonstrations of biology, material science, physical science and technology,” Whitson said. “We also engage and share our experiences with students around the world and inspire the next generation of explorers.”
One of the science experiments she is most interested in is that it can pave the way for diabetics to travel into space.
“Diabetic people are not considered disqualified and safe, so they can’t fly in space because they don’t know how their bodies will react,” Whitson said. “So, I feel that with the right skills to monitor individuals, we can open that door and its way for many people around the world, and we can open up a little more space.”
Drilling into a customer base in a country with little access to space is part of the axioms business plan.
For this mission, the three countries first flew to the Soviet Union and space as astronauts of the Sauviet Federation, but nothing has been done since 1984, but the Hungarian-American billionaire flew to the space station twice as tourists in 2007 and 2009.
The government paid an axiom a private amount for representatives to travel to the space station. The third Mark to fly government-sponsored passengers after their first trip to the station in 2022 was three men who each paid $55 million for the visit. Whitson’s final trip with the AX-2 had only one private passenger who paid his own path. The Saudi Arabian government paid two other passengers. Since then, Axiom has focused solely on government-sponsored customers.
The 2024 AX-3 had passengers from Italy, Türkiye and Swedish. Similar to Uznaski on this mission, ESA paid Swedish customers despite the agency having access to the space station as a partner in NASA, Canada, Japan and Russia.
All of the new trio of space newcomers in this mission say they will reveal the possibilities of their country.
“I have not only musical instruments and equipment, but also billions of heart hopes and dreams,” said Shukla, India, who will be conducting seven experiments for his country’s research institute. “These experiments will pave the way for advancement in Indian microscopy science. I am proud to be the bridge between Earth and orbit for this pioneering research.
Uznaski, Poland, pointed out that he would enjoy the scenery.
“I look forward to floating in Cupola, the window back to Earth. I can’t wait to see all the training locations, and the four countries from there, but most of them can see the whole Earth as one planet, one home,” he said.
While conducting 25 experiments for Hungary, Kap uses half of his personal luggage space to bring tribute to the first Hungarians to fly into space in 1978.
“We had a teddy bear wearing an astronaut space suit. This teddy bear comes from a Hungarian television program aimed at children,” he said. “I’m really proud to fly it again.”
It’s not just animals packed in during flight. The other is a swan called Joy, named by Kapu, which acts as a “zero gravity indicator” for the crew. This is an object that lets the astronaut know that they have reached space when they begin to float after launch.
Whitson teased Swan’s connection to the disclosure of the name of the Crew Dragon Capsule. The first four-person crew dragons were named effort, resilience, endurance and freedom.
“The reason we chose this may be more obvious when we hear the name of the vehicle,” she said. “You have to wait for it.”
