How to watch SpaceX launch the Inspiration4 mission with its fully civilian crew

a fully civilian crew prepared for liftoff Wednesday night on top of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for the first privately funded non-government trip to orbit Earth. The three days Mission Inspiration4 is devoted to breeding $ 200 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Billionaire Jared Isaacman, who chartered the mission, will be joined by Chris Sembroski, an aerospace engineer; Sian Proctor, an artist-educator who will become only the fourth black woman to fly in space; and Hayley Arceneaux, a childhood cancer survivor who was treated in St. Jude and now works in the hospital. At 29, Arceneaux will be the youngest American to fly in space.

Liftoff from the historic Kennedy Space Center pad 39A is scheduled for 8:02 p.m. EDT, kicking off a 12-minute ascent to a 360-mile-high orbit, 100 miles above the International Space Station. This is the highest flight ever since the shuttle’s last mission to the Hubble Space Telescope in 2009.

From this high perch, Isaacman and his Inspiration4 teammates will enjoy an unparalleled 360-degree view of Earth and deep space through a clear, personalized dome or cupola, in the nose of the capsule that replaced the mooring mechanism used for NASA flights. at the space station.

The fully automated flight will mark SpaceX’s 125th Falcon 9 launch, its 22nd so far this year and its fourth Crew Dragon piloted mission.

The capsule is equipped with a “full envelope” dropout system to instantly propel the spacecraft away from a faulty thruster, resulting in an emergency water landing in the Atlantic Ocean. SpaceX has not provided details of its crew’s rescue plans, but says adequate safeguards are in place.

Scott “Kidd” Poteet, Inspiration4 mission director and former Air Force Thunderbirds pilot, said Isaacman and his company were as prepared as any professional astronaut.

“This training prepared them 100% for any eventuality they will encounter in orbit,” he said.

“They have had six months of the same training as any NASA astronaut,” including centrifuge races, rides in the fighter jets Isaacman flies as a hobby, months of study in class and a 30 hour workout in a Crew Dragon simulator.

When asked if anyone had any concerns about flying a rocket into space, Isaacman said SpaceX founder Elon Musk gave the crew “assurances that any the management team is only focused on this mission and is very confident. And that obviously inspires a lot of confidence in us too. But no nervousness, excited to start. “

Arceneaux added: “All the jitters are of the right kind.”

While billionaires Richard branson and Jeff Bezos made headlines earlier this summer when they spent a few minutes in zero gravity on ascending and descending suborbital flights, the Inspiration4 crew will spend three days orbiting Earth before returning to the landing in the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday night.

Isaacman said the flight marked an “inspiring” first step towards opening the high border to civilian use.

“We set out from the start to deliver a very inspiring message, certainly what can be done in space and the possibilities there, but also what we can accomplish here on Earth,” he said.

This included “the largest fundraising effort in the history of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, recognizing the true responsibilities we have here on Earth to earn the right to progress in space,” did he declare. “And I feel like we’re on the right track to achieve that goal.”

The crew is planning an in-flight event with patients in St. Jude and will perform a battery of medical tests and experiments throughout the mission, including the use of an ultrasound device to help measure movements. of fluid towards the head caused by the onset of weightlessness.

Fluid changes, interactions with the neuro-vestibular system or balance, and other reactions trigger space motion sickness in about half of astronauts who fly in space, an uncomfortable disease that goes away usually after two to three days as the body adjusts to the new environment.

“Space sickness is one of the interesting things this mission will explore, just like all of the NASA missions that came before,” said Todd Ericson, a former Air Force test pilot who helps manage the Inspiration4 mission for Isaacman.

“Each person reacts differently,” he said. “Fighter pilots get as sick as non-fighter pilots and vice versa. SpaceX’s medical team has a lot of experience in this area….”