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The first fully civilian mission into orbit is slated to launch tonight via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Jared Isaacman, founder and CEO of payment processing company Shift4 Payments (FOUR), paid for the mission, called Inspiration4.
Four people, including no astronauts, will spend three days orbiting Earth aboard Elon Musk’s SpaceX-developed Dragon spacecraft.
In addition to making the trip of a lifetime, the crew will have time to conduct experiments related to human physiology in microgravity.
“Space is a unique environment and there are opportunities to use the microgravity environment to find and develop new treatments and cures for various diseases and conditions,” Robert Jacobson told Yahoo Finance, founder of Space Advisors and author of Space is Open for Business.
“Congratulations to Elon Musk for his openness to piloting Inspiration4. His endorsement of this assignment means he is confident in the safety and reliability of the vehicle, its teams and the rest of the necessary infrastructure,” he said. -he adds.
The capsule will travel approximately 350 miles above Earth, orbiting higher than the International Space Station.
Who go
Isaacman, who is also an accomplished pilot, will be in command of the mission. He donated the remaining crew seats to raise funds for St. Jude Hospital. Each of the travelers was selected differently. All were trained as commercial astronauts for the mission.
Hayley Arceneaux, a 29-year-old medical assistant at St. Jude Hospital will be there. She is also a bone cancer survivor and was treated at the facility when she was younger. Arceneaux will become the youngest American and the first person with a prosthesis to travel in space.
Dr Sian Proctor is a 51-year-old geoscientist and STEM educator selected for the assignment through an online competition. She will be the fourth black woman in the United States to go into orbit.
The fourth seat was won via a raffle for St. Jude Hospital. The winner offered the seat to Christopher Sembroski, a 42-year-old Lockheed Martin (LMT) employee.
How this launch differs from the trips of Jeff Bezos or Richard Branson
Isaacman is the third billionaire to pay for space travel this year, and the first to fund a private trip to orbit in a SpaceX vehicle.
Comparing this trip to Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin mission on July 20, or the recent trip of Virgin Galactic (SPCE) founder Richard Branson, it’s “apples to oranges,” Jacobson says.
“Sub-orbital flights, which Branson and Bezos have been able to achieve, are difficult, but not as difficult as orbital flights,” Jacobson said.
Orbital flights “take more technical complexity, more fuel, everything, remedies – that’s a big deal,” he added.
Musk’s SpaceX has focused on orbital travel from the start, while Bezos’ Blue Origin has been working on orbital travel. Both have been around for almost the same time.
“Ultimately, it will be more of a regular event”
Expect to see more missions like these in the future, says Robertson. Axiom Space has contracted SpaceX for several trade missions. The first is scheduled for later this year.
“Ultimately, it will happen more regularly that individuals and / or organizations will purchase seats or entire missions for these orbital and longer duration flights on vehicles designed, developed and manufactured by private companies,” added Jacobson.
Liftoff is scheduled for Wednesday evening at 8:02 p.m. EDT at the earliest from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At the end of the three-day trip, Dragon will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere for a freshwater landing off the coast of Florida.
Ines is a market reporter who covers actions on the New York Stock Exchange floor. Follow her on Twitter at @ines_ferre
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