Riyadh-SANA
Two Saudi astronauts are participating today in a scientific mission inside the private "Dragon" spacecraft, which the US space agency "NASA" announced the success of docking with the International Space Station, which is about 420 km from the surface of the Earth.
The vehicle docked with the American unit of the station "Harmony" automatically, and the rocket "Falcon 9" launched yesterday from the Kennedy Space Center in the US state of Florida, in a special mission organized by "NASA", "SpaceX", "Axiom Space", and the Saudi Space Commission, to the International Space Station, with two Saudi astronauts on board, namely Ali Al-Qarni and the first Saudi astronaut Rayana Barnawi.
This is AxiomSpace's second commercial flight to the International Space Station, where the first commercial astronaut mission from Axiom took place on April 1 last year, and the company is scheduled to carry out a third mission in late 2023, where the crew of 4 will spend two weeks on the International Space Station.
The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) pointed out that the two Saudi astronauts are among four astronauts aboard the vehicle, which launches into space at nine pm local time, amid mass popular follow-up.
The agency explained that the Saudi Space Commission held for this occasion the "Saudi Space Exhibition" in Riyadh, which witnesses the influx of citizens and residents to follow this event, and the exhibition organized various equipment in providing information, through simulated models for this mission, in which a Saudi astronaut and a female astronaut participate and the stages that this mission will go through, reaching the specified destination.
The exhibition also consists of several pavilions that ensure visitors follow the journey through the launch countdown platform, the space flight and pioneers exhibition, the exhibition of the future of space and its history, in addition to educational and entertainment workshops and virtual reality shows.
It is noteworthy that the events will continue in the capital, Riyadh, until June 1, and exhibitions are distributed to accompany the launch process in the cities of Jeddah and Dhahran.
Follow SANA News on Telegram https://t.me/SyrianArabNewsAgency