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SpaceX’s all-civilian crew of four Inspiration4 mission has arrived in Florida to prepare for its historic liftoff next week.
” We arrived at @NASAKennedy . . . it was a great morning flight with my @ inspiration4x crew. The right side is in! Standard. Expect more flights around KSC as we get closer to the big launch, ”said Inspiration4 Commander Jared Isaacman. via Twitter today (September 9).
Inspiration4 is a private Earth orbit mission purchased by Isaacman, the billionaire founder of Shift4 Payments. He will be accompanied on the flight by Hayley Arceneaux, Sian Proctor and Chris Sembroski.
The quartet will fly into orbit on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, which is expected to be launched on top of a Falcon 9 rocket from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday, September 14 at 8 p.m. EDT (midnight September 15 GMT).
Live Updates: SpaceX’s Inspiration4 Fully Civilian Private Orbital Mission
Related: Inspiration4: SpaceX’s historic private space flight in photos
The Crew Dragon in question is a vehicle named “Resilience”, which also flew on SpaceX Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station for NASA. But there will be no meeting with the laboratory in orbit on Inspiration4; Resilience will circumnavigate the Earth solo for three days, then return for a drop-down in the Atlantic Ocean.
Related: SpaceX shows off its domed window on Dragon for space flight Inspiration4
The Inspiration4 crew was announced in March and quickly began a six-month training program. This work included “centrifuge training, Dragon simulations, observations of other SpaceX launch operations, Zero-G aircraft training, altitude training and additional classroom, simulation and medical tests “, representatives of Inspiration4 wrote in a statement last week. “This focused preparation was essential in the team’s development and in preparing for their role as the first commercial crew to orbit the Earth.”
Isaacman formulated the Inspiration4 plan in part to raise funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Arceneaux is a childhood bone cancer survivor who was treated in St. Jude. She now works in the hospital as a medical assistant.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 5:10 p.m. EDT on September 9 with news of the crew arriving in Florida.
Mike Wall is the author of “The low“(Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book on the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.
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