Diverse Crew Set for Launch to Space Station

Peggy Whitson, NASA's most experienced astronaut, is set to return to space as commander of the SpaceX Crew Dragon "Freedom" on a private astronaut mission to the International Space Station chartered by Axiom Space and sanctioned by NASA. She will be joined by retired businessman John Shoffner, and two Saudi Arabian astronauts, Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi. During their eight-day stay, they plan to carry out 20 research projects, 14 of them developed by Saudi scientists, that range from human physiology and cell biology to technology development.