That’s not the beginning of a bad joke, but rather a description of SpaceX’s newly announced human spaceflight mission, which as soon as this year will send four astronauts to the ends of the Earth for the first time in history.

The company on Monday unveiled Fram2—a mission to explore the planet’s polar regions, over which no spacecraft has ever flown directly. During the three-to-five-day mission, which will launch from Florida atop SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, the crew will enter a 90-degree polar orbit and observe the Arctic and Antarctic wilderness through a cupola fitted to the company’s Dragon capsule.

No crewed spacecraft has ever reached an orbital path higher than 65 degrees, a feat the Soviet Vostok 6 mission, which carried the first woman to space, achieved in 1963. Typically, such orbits are occupied by smaller satellites, while larger spacecraft such as the International Space Station fly closer to the equator.

The expedition, named after the ship Fram used by Norwegian explorers to reach the poles in the late 19th century, will be Dragon’s sixth commercial astronaut mission and third free-flying mission. The spacecraft has flown three private missions to the ISS for customer Axiom Space, completed the Inspiration4 private orbital spaceflight on behalf of billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, and will launch another mission for Isaacman—Polaris Dawn—as soon as this month.

“Polaris Program, Inspiration4, Axiom, & now Fram2 showcase what commercial missions can achieve thanks to @SpaceX’s reusability and NASA’s vision with the commercial crew program,” Isaacman said in a post on social media platform X, which is owned by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. “All just small steps towards unlocking the last great frontier.”

Fram2 similarly is backed by a wealthy CEO, entrepreneur and adventurer Chun Wang, who made his fortune from Bitcoin mining. Wang purchased the mission for an undisclosed amount and will serve as commander.

According to his profile on X, Wang is an avid traveler who has visited half of the world’s countries and territories. But he has grander aspirations.

“I’ve read many sci-fi stories about the first human missions to Mars, usually led by NASA or some fictional government,” Wang said in a post on X. “Rarely does anyone dare to imagine such a mission may be carried out privately. But now, I increasingly believe that someday we will reach Mars—and it may be a person, or a company, not a nation, who gets there.”

Accompanying Wang will be commander Jannicke Mikkelsen of Norway, pilot Eric Philips of Australia, and mission specialist Rabea Rogge of Germany, who told the website Everyday Astronaut they befriended the blockchain entrepreneur on a trek to the North Pole. All four crew members will be making their first trip to the final frontier.

Mikkelson is a filmmaker who seeks out remote or hazardous filming locations and served as payload specialist on the 2019 One More Orbit mission—a record-breaking polar circumnavigation flight on the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11.

According to its website, Fram2 will shatter One More Orbit’s high water mark of 46 hours and 40 minutes, achieved in a Qatar Executive Gulfstream G650ER ultra-long-range business jet, by flying from the north to south pole in just 46 minutes.

Philips, a polar adventurer and guide, knows those regions well, having completed several ski expeditions. But viewing them from orbit has never been possible, even for astronauts on the ISS, to whom they appear invisible.

Fram2 will orbit at about 264-280 miles above Earth, allowing the crew to study strange green and purple light emissions known as Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancements (STEVE), atmospheric phenomena that resemble auroras. Researchers have yet to determine what causes the optical abnormalities. The mission will weigh input from space physicists and citizen scientists alike.

“Having spent much of my adult life in the polar regions this is an incredible opportunity to view the Arctic and Antarctica from space, in particular Antarctica which will be fully lit at this time of year,” said Philips.

Rogge similarly has a fascination with extreme environments, having researched ocean robotics in the Arctic in pursuit of ways to improve the technology. She will get the chance to study tools that could prepare humans for future missions to Mars and beyond, “from capturing the first human x-ray images in space to Just-in-Time training tools to the effects of spaceflight on behavioral health,” according to Fram2’s webpage. The crew will also study what happens to the human body after weeks or months in space.

“Wang aims to use the mission to highlight the crew’s explorational spirit, bring a sense of wonder and curiosity to the larger public, and highlight how technology can help push the boundaries of exploration of Earth and through the mission’s research,” SpaceX said in an update on its website.

Since 2020, SpaceX has flown 50 astronauts to low-Earth orbit across 13 human spaceflight missions, more than any private company. These include the three Axiom Space missions, Inspiration4, and eight NASA Commercial Crew rotation missions to the ISS, as well as the Demo-2 test flight.

Competitors Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, meanwhile, have each completed seven commercial human spaceflights.

All three companies, in addition to NASA contractors such as Boeing and Northrop Grumman, are part of an emerging trend that could soon become the norm. NASA has predicted that when the ISS is retired at the end of the decade, it could become one of many customers enlisting the services of private spaceflight companies, rather than a provider of those services.

That could mean more private astronaut missions financed by millionaire and billionaire backers.

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For the public, those were the first words heard from NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams—the crew of the space agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test (CFT)—since they arrived at the orbital laboratory more than one month ago for an intended eight-day stay.

The Earth-to-orbit call between crew and NASA command was live streamed on the agency’s website. The event answered appeals from members of the media, made during a previous press conference, to see the astronauts on camera as concerns with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner—which brought them to the ISS—continue to linger.

The spacecraft is contending with two key problems: helium leaks and deactivated or underperforming thrusters. The issues are concentrated within the spacecraft’s service module, which aids in maneuvers such as docking and undocking with the ISS.

NASA and Boeing have indicated that Starliner has more than enough helium to make it home but are continuing to assess the root cause of the leaks. During a hot fire test after docking, four out of the five affected thrusters performed as expected. The fifth was deactivated for the remainder of the mission.

Williams and Wilmore recounted their trip to the space station and the moment they realized that Starliner’s thrusters were not firing at full power. They also sang the spacecraft’s praises, with Wilmore even saying he was tempted to award his first perfect rating for its handling performance.

Separately, NASA and Boeing representatives held a press conference to provide the latest on ongoing ground thruster testing at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. Officials again did not provide a firm return date for Wilmore and Williams. But Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew program, estimated that testing could wrap up by the end of the month, after which point teams will iron out a timeline.

Engineers hope to conduct as many evaluations as possible while the semireusable spacecraft, designed to survive 10 missions, is in orbit. Starliner’s service module, the expendable component of the spacecraft, will be jettisoned and lost as it reenters Earth’s atmosphere.

Astronauts Phone Home

Williams and Wilmore on Wednesday made their long-awaited first appearance on camera since arriving at the ISS on June 6, recounting the CFT’s progress so far.

“Launch was spectacular,” Wilmore said, adding that the spacecraft performed “unbelievably well” during operational capability checks.

However, on the second day of their journey to the ISS, the astronauts could tell something was amiss. As Starliner approached the orbital lab, a total of five reaction control system (RCS) thrusters on its service module either turned off or did not fire at intended strength. Williams and Wilmore commandeered the capsule manually for about one hour as teams on the ground assessed the issue.

“From that point on, you could tell that the thrust was degraded,” Wilmore said. “But it was still impressive.”

Even with less-than-optimal performance, the thrusters completed what Wilmore described as a perfect maneuver as they navigated the final 10 meters to dock Starliner with the space station.

According to Williams, the astronauts talk with mission crews once per week to share and analyze the data they’ve collected. She highlighted the capsule’s ability to serve as a “safe haven” in the event of an ISS evacuation—a role it fulfilled last month after a Russian satellite broke up in orbit.

“We are having a great time here on the ISS,” said Williams. “I’m not complaining, Butch isn’t complaining, that we’re here for a couple extra weeks.”

One question NASA and Boeing have received is whether Starliner could bring Williams and Wilmore home right now. Officials insist it could, but only in an emergency situation that would require the ISS to be evacuated. The astronauts were asked about their confidence level in that scenario.

“I feel confident that, if we had to—if there was a problem with the International Space Station—we could get in the spacecraft and undock, talk with our team, and figure out the best way to come home,” said Williams.

She later added, “I have a real good feeling in my heart that the spacecraft will bring us home no problem.”

Wilmore said he and his crewmate “trust the tests we are doing are the right ones we need to do to get us the right answers, to give us the data we need to come back,” adding that they are “absolutely ready” for a return based on current engineering data.

NASA could send a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule—which has completed all eight ISS Commercial Crew rotation missions to date—to retrieve the astronauts should Starliner’s issues persist. On Wednesday, Stich said the space agency has not yet opened those discussions with SpaceX, though he did not rule out the possibility.

The astronauts also described their view of Hurricane Beryl from space, saying that their families—who live in Texas and were in the storm’s path—are doing well. Wilmore said he is “90 percent sure” he could see the storm forming off the West coast of Africa days before it was named.

The 20-minute call concluded with some zero-gravity backflips by Williams and a big, smiling thumbs-up from Wilmore.

NASA, Boeing Share More Info

Stich and Mark Nappi, vice president and general manager of Boeing’s Commercial Crew program, addressed the media following the astronauts’ remarks.

According to Stich, Starliner will need to undock before mid-August, when SpaceX’s Crew-8 team swaps with the incoming Crew-9. Williams and Wilmore will need to return a few days before the Crew-9 launch window opens. Starliner remains a “go” for return in an emergency scenario, officials said. But they prefer to wait until ground testing is complete before attempting a by-the-books return,

Stich estimated that hot fire testing at White Sands could “optimistically” wrap up by the end of July, though it could be extended. Teams are working toward a nominal return flight readiness review, standard for crew rotation missions, that would give the green light to finish the mission as planned. 

Should more time be needed, NASA is in the process of approving a 45-day extension of the CFT, which is contingent on the health of Starliner’s batteries. According to Stich, those systems have shown no sign of wear and tear.

The goal of the test campaign is to recreate the firing pattern of one of Starliner’s faulty thrusters using an identical thruster—designed for a future mission—on the ground. Hot fire testing began on July 3, but Stich said crews have so far been unable to achieve the temperatures experienced by the thruster in orbit. Engineers believe the unusual firing pattern could be due to excess heat.

Teams will then attempt to predict how the thrusters might behave as Starliner undocks and flies home. Based on their learnings, they could modify the spacecraft’s flight path, deactivate certain thrusters, or fire them at different rates. Williams and Wilmore are capable of piloting Starliner manually if issues arise.

At the same time, Stich said White Sands personnel are evaluating the service module for Starliner’s inaugural crew rotation mission, Starliner-1, scheduled for February. The current service module has contended with a series of helium leaks, for which crews are attempting to uncover the root cause. Starliner-1’s service module won’t be redesigned, but Nappi said future models could incorporate changes based on the testing at White Sands.

The Outlook

Extended ISS stays are not necessarily uncommon, and the space station is designed to accommodate crew for months at a time if needed.

NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, for example, set a U.S. spaceflight record when his planned six-month mission was nearly doubled to 371 consecutive days aboard the orbital laboratory. Unlike Starliner, the Russian Soyuz capsule that ferried Rubio to the ISS was quickly ruled out as an emergency return vehicle, lending credence to the idea that Boeing’s issues are less severe.

However, NASA and Boeing face the added pressure of certification after close to a decade of delays to the Starliner program. In a prior press conference, Stich acknowledged that NASA and Boeing “understand it’s going to take a little bit longer” to certify Starliner than originally planned.

On Wednesday, the Commercial Crew manager said teams will decide between Starliner-1 or SpaceX Dragon’s Crew-10—which are booked for the same February launch window—once the CFT ends and postflight analysis is complete. The longer that takes, he said, the more likely it is that SpaceX will take over the mission.

Nappi agreed with that assessment, citing the need to understand and fix Starliner’s helium leaks as the biggest obstacle to certification.

NASA and Boeing said Wilmore and Williams will make one more Earth-to-orbit call before they depart the ISS, with more details to come.

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On Wednesday morning, the autonomous, semireusable space capsule—intended for 10 service missions to the International Space Station (ISS) under a multibillion contract between the aerospace manufacturer and NASA—finally lifted off with humans for the first time.

The long-delayed mission, called the Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test (CFT), will take NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the orbital laboratory, where they will conduct an array of tests and evaluations of the spacecraft, its systems, and equipment.

The CFT is expected to be Starliner’s final flight test, demonstrating its capabilities with astronauts on board before NASA moves to certify it for Commercial Crew rotation missions to the ISS. The first of these, Starliner-1, could take place as early as next year.

An initial CFT launch attempt on May 6 was scrubbed, and the mission was postponed several times before finally taking flight. But Wilmore and Williams are now well on their way to the space station, where they are expected to dock Thursday at 12:15 p.m. EDT.

We Have Liftoff

Starliner lifted off from the pad at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Wednesday at 10:52 a.m. EDT as teams had planned.

Carrying the capsule into orbit was United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Atlas V rocket, which is making its 100th flight. Atlas V, when stacked together with Starliner, stands over 170 feet tall and generated some 1.6 million pounds of thrust at liftoff.

The liftoff represented the first time humans have hitched a ride on either Starliner or Atlas V. Williams became the first woman to fly on the maiden voyage of a crewed spacecraft.

After achieving Max Q—the moment the rocket faces the greatest amount of pressure as it climbs through the atmosphere—Starliner successfully separated from Atlas V at suborbit, just under 15 minutes into the mission. From this point on, the astronauts will be on their own.

About half an hour into the mission, Starliner executed a successful insertion burn to place it in stable orbit, from which the capsule will embark on an approximately 24-hour journey to the ISS. The spacecraft will dock with the orbital laboratory’s Harmony module Thursday afternoon, and Williams and Wilmore will disembark to join the crew of NASA’s Expedition 71 for a weeklong stay.

Setting the Stage

Throughout the CFT, the astronauts will work to prepare Starliner for certification.

The performance of equipment such as suits and seats was assessed during prelaunch and ascent. As Starliner rendezvous with the space station, the crew will conduct further testing of life support equipment, manual and automated navigation systems, and thruster performance in the scenario of a manual abort. While capable of flying on its own, the capsule can be commanded manually, and crews have failsafes at their disposal at different points in the flight path.

After assessing Starliner’s autonomous docking capabilities and the opening and closing of its hatch, the astronauts will configure the spacecraft for its stay and move emergency equipment into the ISS. Once they are settled, teams will perform checks of displays, cargo systems, and the vehicle itself.

Williams and Wilmore will also try to prove that the capsule could serve as a “safe haven” in the event of depressurization, fire, or collision with debris impacting the orbital laboratory.

On their return trip, the astronauts will briefly test out Starliner’s manual piloting capabilities. As it approaches Earth’s atmosphere, the capsule will slow from its orbital velocity of 17,500 mph and touch down in one of four locations in the Western U.S., using a combination of parachutes and airbags.

A Calculated Risk

If all goes according to plan, Starliner could launch on its first Commercial Crew rotation mission for NASA in the first half of next year. However, the space agency, Boeing, and ULA are taking a calculated risk with the mission.

A helium leak traced to one of the 28 reaction control system thrusters on Starliner’s service module—which helps maneuver the capsule while in orbit—is responsible for a few of the spacecraft’s recent setbacks. NASA describes the leak as small and stable.

But in a scenario Steve Stich, who manages the Commercial Crew program, described as “a pretty diabolical case, where you would lose two helium manifolds in two separate [thrusters]” that are next to one another, Starliner could be unable to perform a deorbit burn. That’s the maneuver that allows it to slow down from orbital speeds as it reenters the atmosphere.

NASA estimated the likelihood of this occurring at 0.77 percent. As a contingency, it and Boeing developed a modified deorbit burn procedure which they say has been tested in a simulator by Williams and Wilmore.

What It Means

There’s a lot riding on the Starliner CFT’s success.

For Boeing, which rakes in billions every quarter, the more important impact may be reputational rather than financial. The company has come under fire in recent months for its internal safety processes, and successfully flying two humans to the ISS and back could help ease the pressure.

For NASA, Starliner may be instrumental in achieving the agency’s goals.

To date, all eight Commercial Crew rotation missions have been flown by SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, which like Starliner is a reusable capsule for up to seven passengers. SpaceX signed its own multibillion-dollar contract with the space agency at the same time as Boeing and has since extended it multiple times, without failing to complete a mission.

But NASA wants an alternative to Dragon in the case of a contingency, such as the one that stranded astronaut Frank Rubio on the ISS for nearly a year—and helped him set a U.S. spaceflight record in the process. The space agency made sure to commemorate Rubio’s achievement, but it wants to avoid a similar situation recurring. By keeping two reusable spacecraft in its fleet, it could have one ready to retrieve a crew in case the other fails.

Should Starliner enter NASA’s Commercial Crew rotation, it will alternate six-month missions to the ISS with Dragon.

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The multinational crew of Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3)—the first all-European commercial astronaut mission to the space station—docked with the orbital laboratory Saturday morning and will spend two weeks conducting more than 30 experiments for NASA and its countries’ respective space agencies.

Wednesday marked the crew’s fourth day aboard the space station and the seventh day of its mission. Astronauts are now well underway conducting microgravity research, educational outreach, and commercial activities.

“The four Ax-3 crewmembers had their hands full as they explored cancer research, space botany, and robotics for Earth and space benefits,” NASA said in a blog post Tuesday.

Ax-3, the third private astronaut mission to the space station chartered by Houston-based Axiom Space, lifted off Thursday from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying the four-person crew was launched using a powerful Falcon 9 rocket, which the Elon Musk-owned company also uses to deploy Starlink satellites and conduct Commercial Crew rotation missions for NASA.

Axiom Space chief astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegría, a Spanish-born former NASA astronaut, is commanding the mission. Lopez-Alegría has made six trips to the space station, including as the commander of the company’s Ax-1 mission in 2022.

The crew also includes mission specialist Alper Gezeravcı, who became the first Turkish astronaut in space. European Space Agency (ESA) project astronaut Marcus Wandt of Sweden and pilot Walter Villadei of Italy—who also flew a commercial spaceflight mission for Virgin Galactic last year—round out the crew.

The Crew Dragon spacecraft docked with the space station Saturday morning, making Ax-3 the third mission with a fully private crew to arrive at the orbital lab. The astronauts were greeted by the Expedition 70 crew—NASA’s 70th long-duration mission to the space station—which helped them adjust to life in zero gravity and get the lay of the land.

The Expedition 70 team, which comprises NASA, ESA, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronauts and Roscosmos cosmonauts, arrived in August on the Crew-7 Commercial Crew rotation mission for a monthslong stay.

Now the Ax-3 and Expedition 70 teams—a total of 11 crewmembers from more than half a dozen nations—are living and working together on a two-week dual mission.

“The crew has seamlessly adjusted to microgravity and are now busy conducting research and outreach engagements,” Axiom Space said in a blog post on Tuesday.

The more than 30 experiments being conducted will focus on low-Earth orbit, such as the effects of microgravity on the biochemistry of neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s, for example). One study will monitor cancerous tumors in microgravity, aiming to identify early warning signs and prevent and predict cancer diseases.

Wandt carried out a pair of outlandish experiments. On Tuesday, he used a laptop computer to command a team of robots on Earth, testing the ability for explorations on other planets to be controlled remotely from spacecraft. Wandt also recorded his brain activity to study how isolated environments affect an astronaut’s cognitive performance and stress levels.

Beyond human-centric research, Ax-3 crew members also conducted a space botany experiment. Researchers studied how space-grown plants responded to the stress of microgravity. The aim is to uncover better agricultural practices both in space and on Earth, including the possibility of genetic modifications to adapt plants to weightlessness.

The Ax-3 crew is expected to depart the space station on February 3, splashing down off the coast of Florida. NASA in August tapped Axiom Space for a fourth private astronaut mission to the orbital lab, with a launch targeted for August at the earliest. The mission is similarly expected to fly on a SpaceX Crew Dragon and span two weeks.

NASA’s relationship with Axiom Space actually extends beyond trips to the space station. The company was selected to provide next-generation spacesuits for Artemis III, NASA’s planned attempt to return Americans to the lunar surface. Testing on the spacesuits began earlier this month, the same day NASA pushed the Artemis III timeline from 2025 to 2026.

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On Thursday morning, a crew of pilots and Italian researchers and engineers left the grounds of Spaceport America aboard a spaceship, hardly disturbing the sand as it took off from a runway in the middle of the Jornada del Muerto desert.

The spacecraft, VSS Unity, belongs to billionaire Richard Branson’s space tourism firm Virgin Galactic. And its passengers were the company’s first paying customers, who are now headed 50 miles up to the edge of the atmosphere on a research mission.

Thursday’s launch kicked off Virgin Galactic’s Galactic 01 mission, its sixth–ever spaceflight and just its third with humans on board. The firm considers the mission its first-ever commercial spaceflight, taking place nearly two years after Branson’s highly-publicized maiden voyage.

Initially agreed upon in 2019, Virgin Galactic’s first mission with paying customers has been planned since 2021 and was originally slated for that year. However, following Branson’s orbital jaunt, the FAA grounded Unity after the spacecraft reportedly veered off course. Less than two weeks later, engineers discovered a ‘potential defect’ in the ship that led to refurbishing delays.

Those issues kept Virgin Galactic earthbound until May, when it successfully completed the crewed Unity 25 test flight. That was the last planned launch before Galactic 01, and the company now believes its technology has been sufficiently validated for commercial flights.

The Galactic 01 crew aboard Unity consists of three Italian ticket-holders, a Virgin Galactic astronaut instructor, and two pilots.

Italian Air Force Col. Walter Villadei is commanding the flight’s research mission, Virtute 1, which consists of more than a dozen experiments designed to make use of the journey’s zero-gravity environment. Villadei was a backup pilot for SpaceX and Axiom Space’s May Ax-2 mission to the International Space Station and will use Galactic 01 to train for a future mission to the ISS.

Lt. Col. Angelo Landolfi, also with the Italian Air Force, and Pantaleone Carlucci, an engineer with Italy’s National Research Council, round out the paying crew members. They are being assisted by astronaut instructor Colin Bennett, who accompanied Branson on his 2021 spaceflight.

Commander Mike Masucci, who has already been to space three times, and Pilot Nicola Pecile are flying the Unity spacecraft. And VMS Eve, the “mothership” that carries Unity to its launch altitude, is piloted by Kelly Latimer and Jameel Janjua.

Unity and Eve took off in tandem from Spaceport America at 10:40 a.m. EST and climbed together to around 45,000 feet. Virgin Galactic in a livestream called it a “perfect takeoff.”

Then, Unity separated, ignited its booster, and began ascending at three times the speed of sound to an altitude of 50 miles—considered high enough to be awarded astronaut wings.

While weightless at the mission’s apex, the Italian crew members conducted their research with a panoramic backdrop of the Earth. Then, through a process Virgin Galactic calls “feathering,” Unity realigned itself toward the Earth, descending and eventually gliding along its wings into a runway landing.

If all goes according to plan, the company expects to launch its second commercial spaceflight, Galactic 02, in August, with monthly missions to follow should it be successful. Those flights will be recreational and more akin to “true” space tourism.

So far, Virgin Galactic has sold more than 800 spots on those flights, with customers paying anywhere between $200,000 and, if they purchased tickets after 2020, $450,000. Branson envisions the company’s fleet growing large enough to eventually handle 400 flights annually.

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Due to ongoing tensions as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, cooperation between the U.S. and Russia on board the International Space Station (ISS) has repeatedly been called into question. 

Now, it seems the two nations may find common ground in space.

Aviation Week reported Monday that the Russian government will now allow its cosmonauts to sign a long-awaited agreement with NASA to fly on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. In return, NASA astronauts will be able to join Russian Soyuz crew trips. The deal will ensure that each country will have at least one representative on the ISS at all times, and increase availability of emergency transport from the ISS.

The agreement had been delayed due to increasing tensions over the invasion of Ukraine. Aviation Week reported that a government decree was published on June 10 stating that the deal is supported by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

NASA program and mission operations lead Rob Navias told FLYING that while negotiations are ongoing, no agreement has been reached.

“Discussions are ongoing between NASA and Roscosmos for the crew exchange proposal. There is nothing final at this time,” Navias said.

• READ MORE: Ripple Effects from Russian Invasion Extend to Space

If an agreement is reached, Soyuz MS-22 Cosmonaut Anna Kikina may become the first Russian to fly on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. Conversely, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio may take Kikina’s seat on the Soyuz MS-22.

This won’t be the first time a NASA astronaut has flown on board a Russian spacecraft. NASA Astronaut Mark Vande Hei, who broke the record for the longest single spaceflight, returned to Earth onboard a Soyuz MS-19 capsule.

A decision on the crew seat exchange deal is expected to come later this year.

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The Colorado native and geologist boarded ISS from a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, which launched from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center Wednesday atop a Falcon 9 rocket.

Watch as the Expedition 67 Crew welcomes the @SpaceX #Crew4 astronauts who are beginning an @ISS_Research mission aboard the station. pic.twitter.com/Qp1wzj1pKX

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) April 28, 2022

“I think it really is just a tribute to the legacy of the Black women astronauts that have come before me, as well as to the exciting future ahead,” Watkins told NPR earlier this week. “For me, growing up, it was important to me to have role models in roles that I aspire to be in, contributing in ways I aspired to contribute. So to the extent that I’m able to do that, I’m honored and grateful for the opportunity to return the favor.”

Watkins is also one of 18 astronauts chosen for NASA’s Artemis program, which will put the first woman and person of color on the moon, perhaps as soon as 2026. The first Artemis mission will be uncrewed and is expected to launch later this year.

• READ MORE: NASA Delays Artemis I Test a Second Time

Watkins’ Crew-4 colleagues on ISS Expedition 67 include mission commander Kjell Lindgren, pilot Robert Hines, and European Space Agency (ESA) mission specialist Samantha Cristoforetti. During the mission, they’ll spend about six months aboard the ISS.

• READ MORE: NASA’s African American History

It’s not only Watkins’ first launch, but also the first for Hines. Lindgren and Cristoforetti have been to the ISS before. Crew-4’s ISS arrival comes less than two days after the return of the first all-private mission to the station.

Both missions “exemplify the spirit and success of the Commercial Crew Program to help maximize use of low-Earth orbit for years to come, testing the technologies we need for the Artemis program and beyond,” said a statement by Kathryn Lueders, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate.

Regular rotation missions to ISS support research and technology development that lays groundwork for NASA’s missions to the moon and Mars.Watkins, who will serve as a flight engineer during the mission, grew up in Lafayette, Colorado, and studied geology at Stanford University and UCLA. Her expertise surrounds the surface of Mars, including a stint as a science team collaborator on the Curiosity Mars rover at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

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In a statement Thursday, Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin said the Saturday Night Live comedian is no longer able to make the flight while also announcing that the Tuesday flight has been delayed a week.

The company did not provide additional details about the delay but said a replacement for Davidson will be named in the coming days and that the new flight, the fourth human flight for Blue Origin, is set for March 29. The Associated Press reported that the flight has been delayed for more testing.

Just days ago, the company announced its latest crew for its fourth human flight. Davidson, who was traveling as a guest of Bezos, was initially on the list, as well as Marty Allen, husband-and-wife duo Sharon and Marc Hagle, Jim Kitchen, and George Nield.

Others Headed to Space

Marty Allen: Former CEO of Party America, Allen is an avid aviation enthusiast, completing his first solo flight at the age of 16. Allen is also the former CEO of California Closet Company. The future space tourist also mentors CEOs throughout the industry with his board activities.

Sharon Hagle: Hagle is the founder of SpaceKids Global, a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring students, particularly young girls, to pursue STEAM+ education. The organization partners with Girl Scouts of Citrus County, Florida, to conduct competitions and annual challenges to inspire students to pursue career paths in the space industry. To this day, Hagle’s work has reached nearly 100,000 globally.

Marc Hagle: Hagle, who is married to Sharon Hagle, is the president and CEO of Tricor International, a residential and commercial property development corporation. Marc Hagle’s leadership has led to the company’s development and ownership of more than 17.4 million square feet of properties around the United States. He and his wife are experienced philanthropists for multiple charities.

Jim Kitchen: Kitchen, an educator and well-traveled entrepreneur, has dreamt of space since NASA’s Apollo missions. In the 1980s, Kitchen spent part of his college career promoting low-Earth orbit space strips for a startup, and eventually served as faculty for the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School since 2010. The entrepreneur has visited all 193 United Nations-recognized countries.

George Nield: Nield serves as president of Commercial Space Technologies, where he works to promote commercial space activities. Previously, Nield served as associate administrator for the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation, where he signed off on and regulated all commercial space launch activities. Nield has also served as an assistant professor and research director at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

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Just as they have since aviation began, African Americans continue to make a difference in the industry. Many provide inspiration and become role models as they influence the future of the community that we all love so much. 

Vanessa Blacknall-Jamison

Chair, Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals Board of Advisors 

One of the most powerful ways to make a difference in this world is to become someone’s mentor. 

“Everyone can benefit from mentoring. Giving of yourself, your experience, and genuinely caring for others is the key to being a great mentorn” Vanessa Blacknall-Jamison says. 

She has more than four decades of experience in aviation, 28 in a managerial role. These days, she serves as change advisor and leadership coach (ACC) with the Federal Aviation Administration, Aviation Safety and Flight Standards Leadership Development Team Change Management Group. 

Her duties include change management consultation, guidance, training, and support focusing on the personnel management of national projects.

She eloquently shares what she knows, starting with advice for both the mentor and mentee.

For the mentor: “At the first meeting, establish expectations by asking why are you interested in being mentored? How do you think I can help you? Are you willing to put in the work? What is your desired outcome from our mentoring relationship?”

Ideally, she says, the mentee should come prepared with lots of questions—it is important to have the right fit between mentee and mentor.

It is also important that mentors ensure they do not over-commit themselves and that they have the time and capacity for mentoring, or else they will disappoint themselves and the mentee.

“If you agree to be a mentor, ensure you are committed, reliable, [and] eliminate distractions when meeting with your mentee. Provide them your undivided attention. Use your network to help your mentee succeed. And above all, believe your mentee can accomplish anything. However, if you see they are not committed or experiencing difficulty, be honest with them and tell them what you are seeing.”

Irene Geraldo

Pilot

One of the character traits of successful individuals is the ability to take the initiative to search for opportunities that allow them to expand and enhance their interests. Often that means finding a way to assist others in aviation.

One person with these character traits is Irene Geraldo, a flight instructor from Ghana, West Africa. 

Geraldo will be traveling to Nashville, Tennessee, in March to attend the Women in Aviation International Conference, courtesy of the It’s About Time Scholarship awarded by the Abingdon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Abingdon Watch Co. 

The foundation offers scholarships to people pursuing different industries in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) with the emphasis to change one life at a time by giving them insider access to an industry that they’re passionate about.

Geraldo has been enamored with aviation since childhood. She says her interest piqued when she saw airplanes flying overhead. Her first thought was to become an airline pilot, but when she started to take flying lessons and met other pilots, her ideas about a career in aviation began to evolve.

“In the long term, I see myself establishing a fully fledged facility aimed at rallying and training young people with interest in this field, while establishing a framework to provide proper career guidance in aviation,” she says. 

“I believe partaking in this year’s convention will go a long way in helping me develop more insight into the machinations of the industry; something I very much look forward to, to continue to carry out my mission to inspire and motivate the upcoming generation of young aviators back home in Africa and more, especially Ghana.”

Geraldo is looking forward to the conference as a way to take the first steps toward networking, as she knows aviation is not only about information application, it is also about building relationships.

“I am excited at the prospect of meeting the experts and industry players I so admire, face to face, to learn under the tutelage of other great women in aviation who are making significant strides in the industry and are paving the way for the younger generation such as myself and ultimately, to network and develop new professional relationships,” she says.

Dr. Mae C. Jemison 

Astronaut, educator, engineer

Dr. Mae Jemison has achieved many firsts in her career. She was the first African American woman astronaut and the first to travel to space.

Jemison holds a degree in chemical engineering from Stanford University, as well as a medical doctorate from Cornell University.

She became a medical officer in the Peace Corps for Sierra Leone and Liberia, where she was an educator and conducted medical research.

In 1986, she was accepted to NASA’s astronaut training program. Her first mission was aboard space shuttle Endeavor in September 1992. She served as the science mission specialist, conducting a variety of experiments on herself and the crew. 

Shortly after returning to Earth, Jemison went to fictional space doing a cameo as a transporter operator on Star Trek, The Next Generation. Look for her in season 6 in the episode “Second Chances.”

After returning from space, she formed the Jemison Group to develop and market advanced technologies.

Titus Sanders

National ACE Academy director, Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals

Titus Sanders has been fascinated with aviation since childhood. As a boy, he used to draw pictures of fighter aircraft landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier, and often watched an emergency medical services helicopter come and go from a nearby hospital.

Today, he holds certificates for both fixed wing and helicopter and serves as a chief warrant officer 4 in the U.S. Army. He began his professional aviation career as a pilot in the Army, flying rotary wings and working in U.S. Army intelligence.

“A few months after 9/11, I saw the movie Black Hawk Down. I felt so inspired by the heroics of the Nightstalker pilots,” Sanders explains. “The thought of becoming an Army pilot seemed so enticing and exciting. At that moment, I realized that I had to enlist to serve as a Black Hawk pilot.”

Sanders joined the U.S. Army in January 2003 as a paralegal specialist. He later attended Warrant Officer Candidate School and entered flight school in 2005.

“I have served most of my Army aviation career as an aviation mission survivability officer, responsible for training techniques, tactics, and procedures, employment of IR and radar warning systems, personnel recovery, and mission planning,” he says.

He achieved his dream of flying the Black Hawk along with several other aircraft. He currently flies the UC-35A, the military variant of the Cessna Citation V.

Sanders wanted to share his love of aviation with others. In 2012, a fellow U.S. Army pilot suggested he join the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals (OBAP), saying it would help him achieve his goal to grow and develop the next generation of African American pilots.

“He stated that OBAP was the best organization to help accomplish that goal,” Sanders says. He spent several years in OBAP, serving as a volunteer in the Aerospace Professional in Schools Program (APIS), which brings aerospace professionals into schools to introduce youth to the opportunities available in aerospace and aviation.

“Several times a year, I was afforded the opportunity to speak to students about my experience as a U.S. Army pilot and other careers in aviation.” Sanders says, adding that as his experience grew in OBAP, so did his responsibilities.

“Over the past few years, I’ve served in various leadership roles in the organization, including the Midwest regional director, co-director, and co-founder of OBAP’s newest program, Explore Aerospace, and the National ACE Academy director,” he says.

Sanders says the best part of the job is hearing from the students and their families on how OBAP and the programs have influenced their lives and helped them on the path to becoming aviation professionals.

“Our students are progressing by earning their pilot certificates, enrolling in aerospace engineering undergraduate programs, and serving as first officers and captains at various airlines,” he says. “It really makes me proud to be a part of an organization that is literally changing people’s lives in that way.”

The greatest challenge of the job, Sanders says, is that while OBAP has “…dozens of extremely passionate, dedicated volunteers, we always need more.” He adds that sometimes it can be challenging to recruit volunteers to help facilitate the programs. 

“It is also occasionally difficult making connections with various schools to connect with a broader audience of students. Our goal is to always reach more, do more, give more—so if you’re reading this and you feel inspired, I invite you to join us and volunteer. I guarantee the feeling you get when you see a student really fall in love with aerospace is more than its own reward.”

The post Meet Four African Americans Making a Difference in Aviation appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

1. Fast Food Delivery from Uber Eats

Everyone gets highly specific cravings, no matter the altitude. One Japanese entrepreneur, Yusaku Maezawa, recently rode aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station, where he delivered “boiled mackerel in miso, beef bowl cooked in sweet sauce, simmered chicken with bamboo shoots, and braised pork.”

The food was hand-delivered, complete with the branded Uber Eats paper bag.

The slow delivery was made on December 11, after Maezawa’s nearly nine-hour trip to the ISS. This is only the beginning for Maezawa’s space career, as the billionaire is among the first customers to reserve his trip around the moon as part of SpaceX’s “dearMoon” mission in 2023.

2. The First Pizza Delivery to Low-Earth Orbit

Unfortunately for Uber Eats, the delivery service was not the first to complete orbital orders. That title belongs to Pizza Hut, which paid the Russian space program $1 million to send a personal pizza to cosmonaut Yuri Usachov onboard the ISS in 2001.

“Pizza Hut is known for quality, innovation and category leadership,” said then-Pizza Hut chief marketing officer Randy Gier. “Having recorded numerous ‘firsts’ on Earth, we also wanted to make history by becoming the first company in the world to deliver pizza to space. From this day forward, Pizza Hut pizza will go down in history as the world’s first pizza to be delivered to and eaten in space.”

The company used salami in place of pepperoni, since it lasted longer without growing mold in their 60-day testing process. Sadly, the NASA astronauts weren’t allowed to partake in the pie, given the administration’s policy against endorsements and product advertisements.

3. Luke Skywalker’s Lightsaber

Jumping from food to fiction, NASA once sent Mark Hamill’s prop lightsaber from “Return of the Jedi” to space during its STS-120 mission in 2007, commemorating the Star Wars franchise’s 30th anniversary.

Before leaving Earth, the lightsaber was ceremoniously escorted by Chewbacca and several X-wing pilots to its flight from California, landing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The prop spent two week in orbit before being returned to George Lucas’ film company.

“There’s a kind of a fine line between science fiction and reality as far as what we do, and it’s only just time really because a lot of what we’re doing right now was science fiction when I was growing up,” said NASA astronaut Jim Reilly. “I think it’s a neat link because it combines two space themes all at one time.”

4. Cremains of Scotty from Star Trek

From one galactic franchise to another: James Doohan—who played Star Trek engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott—wished for his ashes to be sent to space.

After his passing in 2005, Doohan’s family made multiple attempts to fulfill the actor’s wishes. Two of those attempts were nearly successful, but Doohan’s son recently revealed that a portion of the ashes were actually snuck onto the ISS, where it’s been for the past 13 years.

Doohan’s son had enlisted the help of game designer Richard Garriott, who was among the first civilians aboard the ISS in 2008. Garriott agreed to take the ashes with him on board a Russian Soyuz rocket but didn’t have enough time to have the item properly checked and run by the Russian space agency. 

So, Garriott took it upon himself to smuggle the ashes with him, and they remain hidden on the ISS to this day.

5. An Entire Car

In 2018, Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched its Falcon Heavy rocket for its maiden voyage—with a peculiar passenger on board.

The payload included a Tesla Roadster, an electric sports car made by Musk’s car company, with a mannequin dubbed “Starman” in the driver’s seat. The February launch made history for the private space company, where a feed from Starman’s perspective could be livestreamed from space.

In the vacuum of space, Starman “listened” to David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” and “Life on Mars?” on repeat.

In spectacular fashion, the core stage booster from the rocket splashed down at nearly 300 mph in the Atlantic Ocean, where it was supposed to land on a remotely-piloted drone ship. The other first-stage boosters made their safe landings at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Did we miss any unusual space artifacts? Let us know at @flyingmagazine on Twitter.

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