The International Space Station (ISS) has rolled out the welcome mat for the four participants of Axiom Space's second private mission, which took off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the US on Sunday (21 May).
The crew included the first female Arab astronaut, stem cell researcher Rayyanah Barnawi. She was accompanied by fellow Saudi mission specialist Ali Alqarni, the second male astronaut from the Gulf kingdom to go to space.
The two are the first Saudis to travel in a rocket since a Saudi prince launched aboard shuttle Discovery in 1985. They were joined on the trip by two US citizens, commander Peggy Whitson and pilot John Shoffner. Whitson is a retired Nasa astronaut who now works for Axiom.