to orbit

SpaceX is set to launch four passengers — including three paying customers — toward a weeklong stay aboard the
International Space Station.

Their journey, put together SpaceX to launch former astronaut, three paying customers together by the Houston-based company Axiom, will be the second all-private mission to the orbiting outpost.

The mission, called AX-2, will also make history as stem cell researcher Rayyanah Barnawi is set to become the first woman from Saudi Arabia to travel to space.

A live stream of the launch began on YouTube Sunday afternoon. And coverage will begin on NASA TV at 4:30 p.m. ET Sunday, with liftoff expected at 5:37 p.m. ET from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Officials will be keeping a close eye on the weather. Brian Cizek, a weather official with the US Space Force, noted that Florida is entering the summer wet season when daily thunderstorms tend to roll through the area.

Though, he added, Sunday’s weather is looking “pretty decent.”“Really the only thing we’re going to have to watch for is the anvil coming off the top of those thunderstorms,” Cizek said.

Last edited by Spunky (5/21/2023 3:59 pm)