SpaceX on Sunday evening launched a commercial mission to the International Space Station carrying four people, including former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson.

周日晚上，SpaceX公司向国际空间站发射了一项商业任务，搭载了包括前NASA宇航员佩吉·惠特森在内的四名人员前往国际空间站。

This "Axiom-2" mission was commanded by Whitson and carried a paying customer named John Shoffner, who served as pilot, as well as two Saudi Arabian mission specialists, Ali al-Qarni and Rayyanah Barnawi. Shoffner and the government of Saudi Arabia procured the seats on Crew Dragon from Axiom, a Houston-based spaceflight company that brokered the mission to the space station. Whitson is an employee of Axiom.

这次名为“Axiom-2”的任务由惠特森指挥，搭载了一位名叫约翰·肖夫纳(John Shoffner)的付费客户，他担任飞行员，以及两名沙特阿拉伯任务专家阿里·卡尔尼(Ali al-Qarni)和雷亚娜·巴纳维(Rayyanah Barnawi)。肖夫纳和沙特阿拉伯政府从位于休斯顿的太空飞行公司Axiom处购买了Crew Dragon的座位。惠特森是Axiom公司的雇员。

The crew of four is flying the second fully private mission to the International Space Station and will spend about a week on board the orbiting laboratory before departing for Earth—weather permitting—on May 30.

这四人组成的机组是第二个完全私人的前往国际空间站的任务，他们将在轨道实验室上停留约一周，然后(如果天气允许)于5月30日返回地球。

Axiom's missions appeal to potential customers for a variety of reasons. Some of the allure, undoubtedly, is space tourism and an opportunity to stay at the only space hotel in the known universe. There are only two space stations in orbit, and one is controlled by the Chinese government and, at present, open only to that nation's astronauts.

Axiom的任务之所以吸引潜在客户，原因有很多。毫无疑问，太空旅游和住在已知宇宙中唯一的太空酒店的机会是其中的一些吸引力。轨道上只有两个空间站，其中一个由中国政府控制，目前只对中国宇航员开放。