SpaceX Inspiration4: How to Watch Historic All-Civilian Launch Live Today

On the rocket-powered heels of the billionaire space race, four “everyday people” are ready to make space history when they strap on to a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule and set off for a ride. three-day walk around our planet. Mission Inspiration4, which also serves as a fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Hospital, is slated to launch on Wednesday, and you can watch it live here.

What time is SpaceX launch?

The five-hour launch window opens at 5:02 p.m. PT / 8:02 p.m. ET.

“All systems and weather are looking good for today’s launch of Falcon 9 of Dragon’s first fully civilian spaceflight,” SpaceX tweeted Thursday. The video broadcast, from SpaceX, is expected to begin at 12:45 p.m. PT and can be found below.

The spacecraft will take off from this rock with the help of a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will be a process similar to how SpaceX launches NASA astronauts, but Inspiration4 will not make it to the International Space Station.

Inspiration4 is touted as “the world’s first fully civilian mission to orbit”. The crew will fly much higher and longer than Amazon founder Jeff Bezos or Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson in their recent suborbital flights.

Meet the Inspiration4 crew

The founder of billionaire Shift4 Payments, Jared Isaacman, is the mission commander and also funds it. Isaacman is an experienced airplane pilot. He was a member of the Black Diamond Jet Team, a civilian aerobatic team, and participated in over 100 air shows. This pilot training gave him a solid foundation for learning the ropes of the Dragon spacecraft.

Childhood cancer survivor Hayley Arceneaux, aerospace industry professional Chris Sembroski and geoscientist Sian Proctor make up the rest of the crew. Arecenaux was treated in Saint-Jude and now works at the hospital as a medical assistant.

Sembroski was once an adviser to the US space camp and also served in the US Air Force. Proctor has experience as an “analog astronaut” participating in simulated space missions to Earth. She will have the chance to put “real astronaut” on her CV.

The crew will conduct health research experiments during the flight, but the mission will also raise funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which specializes in treating childhood cancer. The spaceship payload includes mission jackets, ukulele, TVN from a variety of artists, plush toys and other items that will be auctioned off as a fundraiser. Samuel Adams Brewery has pledged up to $ 100,000 to St. Jude in exchange for 66 pounds of space hops to make a special beer.

Why Inspiration4 is important

Space has generally been the domain of professional astronauts. Some space tourists have paid high prices to get to orbit, but this type of tourism is still rare. Inspiration4 alludes to the future possibilities of the industry. It also shows how far spacecraft technology has advanced. The highly automated Crew Dragon offers many guarantees to its civilian entourage. They trained a lot for the mission, but it will be a testament to what technology is capable of.

Inspiration4 has strong feelings about the importance of the mission: “Inspiration4, the first trade mission to space, could mark the beginning of the next era of exploration. It’s a noble concept, but it’s not crazy. We live in the days when the founder of SpaecX Elon Musk talks about sending a million people to Mars by 2050. Inspiration4 suggests that space may soon be accessible to more people than ever.

Inspiration4 on Netflix

This is perhaps one of the best-documented crewed space missions of all time. Netflix broadcasts the Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space docuseries that follow the crew from launch to landing. Three episodes are already available on the streaming service, with more to come. Netflix is ​​also expected to stream the event live on its YouTube page.

Since Inspiration4 will not dock with the ISS, SpaceX instead equipped the Crew Dragon nose with large bowl-shaped window which should provide spectacular views of Earth. But first they will have to get into orbit with a very powerful rocket.