Making the Most of Time in Space
21.08.2023 - 11:41
/ theunconventionalgardener.com
/ Emma Doughty
In April 2022, a crew of four astronauts took part in the first private mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Miguel López-Alegria, Larry Connor, Eytan Stibbe and Mark Pathy launched with SpaceX on the 8 April for their AX-1 mission.
Because it was a private mission, each crew member had a lot of say about what experiments they would perform in the orbiting laboratory – including growing chickpeas and steak. But they badly overestimated how much they would get done in space.
As Mission Commander Michael López-Alegría explained during the post-flight press conference, “Our timeline was very aggressive, especially early in the mission. The pace was frenetic in the beginning.” Pilot Larry Connor agreed, saying, “With the value of hindsight, we were way too aggressive on our schedule, in particular the first couple days.”
Originally planned as a 10-day mission, with eight days on the ISS, bad weather back on Earth meant the AX-1 crew had a longer stay.
“It was a blessing to have the extra time. I think we were so focused on research and outreach in the first 8 or 10 days on orbit that we needed the extra time to complete the experience by having time to look out the window, to make contact with friends and family, to just enjoy the sensation.”
The over-scheduling of the AX-1 mission had a knock-on effect on the regular Space Station crew.
Susan Helms is a former NASA astronaut and serves on the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel. She said that the AX-1 visit affected the performance of the astronauts, although it posed “no apparent overt safety issues”.
“In essence, the arrival of the Axiom personnel seemed to have a larger-than-expected impact on the daily workload on the professional International Space Station crew.”
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