(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 20 - The Dragon capsule carrying a
four-strong European crew, including Italian Air Force colonel
and pilot Walter Villadei, docked at the International Space
Station (ISS) on Saturday.
The four arrived at the ISS, having blasted off from the Kennedy
Space Center in Florida on Thursday, thanks to the Axiom Mission
3 (Ax-3), run by private entity Axiom Space.
It is first all-European commercial astronaut mission to the
ISS.
The other members of the crew at European Space Agency (ESA)
project astronaut Marcus Wandt from Sweden, Alper GezeravcÕ from
Turkey and Michael López-Alegría, a dual US-Spanish citizen.
Villadei has extensive experience in Italian space programs,
including multiple assignments as a member of the scientific
committee of the Italian Space Agency and national
representative for the European Commission for the Space
Surveillance and Tracking Program. (ANSA).
Villadei's crew docks on International Space Station
Air Force colonel part of four-strong European team