"60 Billion Per Person"... Why NASA Endured Russia's 'Mockery' [Reading Science]

The United States' first-ever private citizen-only International Space Station (ISS) stay program has successfully concluded. The photo shows four participants posing with seven existing crew members in a group photo on the ISS. Photo by NASA

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The United States has successfully completed the International Space Station (ISS) stay program for a space travel team composed entirely of civilians. It is regarded as the first project to open the full-fledged era of space tourism, generating about 60 billion won in revenue per person. Analysts also suggest that this explains why the U.S. and Russia maintained a cooperative relationship on the ISS despite Russia mocking NASA after its invasion of Ukraine.

For the first time ever, the Ax-1 mission team, consisting of four civilian space tourists, safely landed the SpaceX manned spacecraft 'Crew Dragon' capsule on the sea surface near Jacksonville, Florida, at around 1:06 p.m. (Eastern Time) on the 25th. The Ax-1 mission team arrived at the ISS on the 8th of this month and stayed for 17 days, conducting over 25 various space experiments, YouTube broadcasts, and other personal programs. Originally scheduled to return on the 19th, they were fortunate to extend their stay by four days due to weather conditions and other factors.

The Ax-1 mission team is the first private ISS stay space tourism program conceived and realized by Axiom Space, based in Houston, Texas. Although Michael Lopez-Alegria, a former NASA astronaut and vice president of Axiom Space, served as the commander among the four tourists, the other three?Larry Connor, Mark Pathy, and Eytan Stibbe?were all ordinary people with no prior space travel experience. It is reported that each of the four paid about $55 million as 'tourism fees' to qualify for boarding.

There have been occasional programs where civilians stayed on the ISS before. A representative case was two Japanese billionaires who stayed for about 11 days last December. However, until now, a professional astronaut from the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) had commanded the mission and overseen the flight. In September last year, SpaceX also succeeded in the 'Inspiration4' mission, a space tourism program composed solely of four civilians. However, that mission orbited the Earth for three days without staying on the ISS, marking a difference.

International Space Station (ISS)

This Ax-1 mission also attracted attention as it was safely conducted amid extreme tensions between the U.S. and Russia due to the Russia-Ukraine war. The U.S. and Russia jointly installed and operate the ISS, and any conflict caused by the war on the ground could have fatal consequences for ISS operations. In fact, Russia threatened in late February and early March that the ISS might fall into the sea. Especially, Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos, suddenly posted a 'virtual video' on Twitter on March 6, showing Russian astronauts on the ISS bidding farewell to American astronaut Mark Vande Hei, who was scheduled to return with them on March 30, and then returning to Earth alone by rocket, leaving him behind. Since the U.S. discontinued its space shuttle program in 2011, it has been paying Russia to transport astronauts to and from the ISS, and this situation was exploited as a form of threat. Roscosmos also did not hesitate to mock by saying things like, "If you want to go up to the ISS, ride a broomstick."

Former NASA astronauts such as Scott Kelly strongly opposed this and engaged in heated exchanges with Rogozin and others on social media, but NASA itself maintained a low profile and tried to calm the situation. NASA appealed to them, saying, "You have freedom of expression and the right to speak, but please understand that it could bring additional burdens," and "Attacking our Russian partners harms the mission we are currently facing." NASA has also publicly stated that "space cooperation on the ISS continues despite strong U.S. sanctions against Russia."

It is analyzed that NASA is maintaining a 'poker face' despite Russia's 'mockery,' considering the safe return of its astronauts and the enormous space tourism revenue of about 60 billion won per person. In fact, Axiom Space plans to conduct a second private ISS stay program by the end of this year and aims to install its own module on the ISS by the end of 2024 for exclusive private space tourism use.