It was the first all-private astronaut mission to the International Space Station.Īxiom is also working on several space station modules of their own that will launch to the ISS in the years to come. The first, Ax-1, launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 in April 2022 and sent four private astronauts to the orbital lab for over two weeks. The company aims to "provide universal access to low Earth orbit so that innovators, governments and individuals can do the same," the company's website reads.Īx-2 will be the second mission that Axiom Space has organized and operated aboard the ISS. The mission will last just a week but sets the stage for future missions of longer duration over the coming months that will further test the ability of stem cells to divide and take up DNA during spaceflight.Īxiom Space is a private astronaut training and mission management provider based in Houston, Texas, home of NASA's Johnson Space Center. SpaceX gearing up to launch 2 private astronaut missions Axiom Space: Building the off-Earth economy SpaceX launch of Ax-2 private astronaut mission now targeted for May 21 The Ax-2 crew will then launch in the Dragon craft atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket no sooner than May 21, if all goes according to plain. "That is the goal of this new mission, and we are all very excited to see what happens up there," Svendsen said.Ī Cedars-Sinai team will arrive at Kennedy Space Center a week before launch to prepare the stem cells and load them onto a Dragon spacecraft. By removing gravity from the equation, researchers will be able test whether or not cells grow faster in space, present fewer genetic mutations and remain in their versatile pluripotent state. "Gravity constantly pulls these pluripotent stem cells towards Earth, putting pressure on them and providing a stimulus to start turning into other cell types, but in microgravity, that effect will no longer be there," mission co-principle investigator and executive director of the Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute, Clive Svendsen said in the statement. In low-gravity environments, like that of the ISS which orbits Earth at an altitude of around 253 miles (408 miles), this barrier could be removed. Producing iPSCs on Earth is tricky, however, partially because of the gravitational effects of the planet which can restrict the expansion and growth of these cells. This makes iPSCs important in creating models of diseases and for creating specifically tailored treatments. An iPSC is a powerful type of cell, according to Cedars-Sinai, that has been reprogrammed from an adult cell to return to a state called "pluripotency." While in this state, the cell can be turned into nearly any cell type found in the human body.
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