The four-member Axiom Mission 1 crew, including Montreal┬а entrepreneur Mark Pathy, is┬аscheduled to arrive┬аat the International Space Station on Saturday aboard the first all-private charter flight to the ISS.
SpaceX launched its Crew Dragon spacecraft from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.,┬аon Friday for the┬а10-day mission, with the passengers scheduled to spend eight days on the space station.
Financier┬аand┬аphilanthropist┬аPathy, Ohio real estate and tech entrepreneur Larry Connor, and Israeli businessman Eytan Stibbe┬аeach paid $55 million US for the rocket ride and stay at the ISS.┬аJoining them is retired NASA astronaut┬аMichael Lopez-Alegria, who works for Houston-based startup Axiom Space Inc.
The mission includes a series of science experiments. Pathy has said┬аhe’ll be helping to test┬аsomething called holoportation, a new technology that┬аuses virtual reality┬аfor communication.
He and a colleague at mission control on the ground will us VR headsets to share their experiences. Pathy will also be participating in surveys of Earth from space.
The spacecraft is set to dock┬аto the Harmony module’s space-facing port once it arrives.
WATCH | Docking is scheduled at 7:45 a.m. ET:
