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SpaceX has successfully launched its first fully civilian crew into space.
The only problem in the mission, dubbed Inspiration4 as a nod to the crew and their association with a hospital specializing in childhood cancer, was a lack of video feed from the Dragon capsule after its cupola cover was removed. transparent dome. The cupola was the mission’s main selling point and is essentially a huge window through which the four crew members can enjoy the view from space.
Below are footage from the launch – you might want to jump to the 4 hour and 16 minute mark.
Youtube video
The launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida shortly after midnight UTC otherwise went off without a hitch. A Falcon 9 first-stage booster quickly transported a Dragon capsule about 80 km before the second-stage engine took over. A few minutes later, the now separate first stage landed on a droneship and the Dragon capsule settled into a preliminary orbit at an altitude of 200 km.
The Inspiration 4 second-stage motor at work.
Click to enlarge
The live view of the first-floor booster featured several baffling flashes – the result of short burns that presaged its return to Earth. Small objects sometimes passed in front of the booster, it seemed, without explanation.
The launch was the First Stage Booster’s third mission and the Dragon Capsule’s second space adventure, showing SpaceX’s philosophy of reusing components whenever possible to reduce the cost of space travel.
Main engine shutdown and stage separation confirmed. The combustion of the second stage engine is in progress pic.twitter.com/ihYA8ELUVA
– SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 16, 2021
The crew – Shift4 Payments boss Jared Isaacman, with Sian Proctor, Hayley Arceneaux, and Christopher Sembroski occupying the rest of the seats – all seemed excited at the launch.
SpaceX’s live broadcast of the event featured commentators gently pointing out that the mission was the first to feature a fully civilian crew and send them into orbit. They also acknowledged that SpaceX stood on the shoulders of giants from NASA and elsewhere, meaning that there was none of the billionaire sniping against billionaires that accompanied the first crewed mission of the Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity in July.
SpaceX doesn’t need to wrestle with rival private space tourism operators over definitions of where space begins or whether its crew is astronauts, as Inspiration4 will peak at 575km and orbit for three days. Virgin Galactic’s mission reached 85 km during a journey that lasted 90 minutes, while Blue Origin’s mission reached 101.7 km and lasted only ten minutes and twenty seconds. ®
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