[ad_1]
SpaceX prepares for its first all-civilian mission
For the first time in 60 years of human spaceflight, a rocket is about to enter orbit without professional astronauts on board, just four tourists. (September 13)
PA
CAP CANAVERAL, Fla .– SpaceX is set to launch four ordinary citizens into orbit Wednesday night without a professional astronaut, a feat unprecedented in the history of spaceflight.
The five-hour Inspiration4 launch window will open at 8:02 p.m. EDT for launch from Launch Complex 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center.
A save window opens at 8:05 p.m. EDT Thursday.
Atop the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will be four private citizens in a specially modified Crew Dragon capsule, waiting to begin three days orbiting Earth, the first time an all-civilian crew will orbit the planet.
Rather than just climb to the edge of space and return to land in less than an hour like Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin recently did, Inspiration4 will circle the Earth and do so in a higher orbit than Earth. International Space Station.
It’s Jared Isaacman, a 38-year-old billionaire who pays for it all, who dropped out of high school, promoting the theft as a massive fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Issacman, a pilot qualified to fly commercial and military jets, made a deal with SpaceX in late 2020 for the mission. Neither of them says how much they are paying SpaceX for the launch, although Isaacman said it was well under the $ 200 million he hopes to raise for St. Jude.
“This dream started 10 months ago,” Isaacman said at a Tuesday afternoon press conference, noting how quickly the mission fell into place. “We have focused from the start on delivering a very inspiring message, certainly the opportunities in space and what can be done there. But also what we can accomplish here on Earth.
Joining him will be:
►Hayley Arceneaux, medical assistant at St. Jude. She herself was treated for bone cancer in hospital as a child.
►Chris Sembroski, a Seattle aerospace worker who was selected from 72,000 entries based on donations to St. Jude.
►Sian Proctor, educator and training pilot who was a finalist in the 2009 NASA Astronaut Class.
How the first fully civilian space flight happened: Billionaire Promotes Theft As Fundraising Effort For St. Jude, Documented By Netflix
SpaceX and Isaacman revealed their project to the world in a TV commercial that aired during the Super Bowl in February encouraging people to apply for the mission.
Netflix is also documenting the team’s preparation and flight for a series on its platform. While “Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space” qualifies as a documentary series, it is more like reality TV than a Ken Burns movie.
Video cameras appeared to have been ubiquitous around the crew for months, capturing everything from the moment the crew members first discovered they were heading into space (via Zoom calls in which reactions ranged from shock to tears) until they shared the news with friends and family to a trip to the Kennedy Space Center to visit the launch pad where they will take off. It even includes video footage of Arceneaux as a 10-year-old patient in St. Jude.
Follow John McCarthy and Rick Neale on Twitter: @JournalistJohnM and @ RickNeale1
[ad_2]
Source link