Taking the first all-private crew to Space with Michael López-Alegría

Four-time astronaut Michael López-Alegría reflects on the overwhelming sensation of his first acceleration into space and landing. He discusses the Ax-1 mission, in which he was due to command the first all-private crew to the International Space Station, and shares his predictions for the future.

Episode notes

Michael López-Alegría is chief astronaut for Axiom Space and commander of the Ax-1 mission. He joined NASA in 1992, and is a four-time astronaut holding NASA records for the most “spacewalks” and a cumulative extravehicular activity time of 67 hours 40 minutes. In this in-depth conversation, Michael reflects on the “overwhelming sensation” of his first acceleration and landing in space; discusses the Ax-1 mission this year, where he will become the first person to ever command an all-private crew to the International Space Station; and shares his predictions for the future.

Read the written interview from this episode on francishellyer.com, published 9 February 2022.