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Changing the space coverage
The weather forecast has improved, according to the US Space Force, which is determining if the launch is safe. It now projects a 10 percent chance of violating weather rules, rather than 20 percent from an earlier forecast.
Kennedy Space Center report
The Inspiration4 crew ride in Tesla cars to the launch pad. They will get into their spacesuits in a SpaceX support room there, not the NASA facility where NASA astronauts prepare. It is part of the transition from a government mission to a private one.
The four Inspiration4 crew members will be inside a Crew Dragon capsule built by SpaceX. The capsule will be launched on one of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets.
This is exactly the same system that is used to take NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. Indeed, the capsule they travel in, named Resilience, was used for a NASA mission launched in November last year. It returned to Earth in May and was refurbished for the Inspiration4 mission.
The launch could take place as early as 8:02 p.m., but the action will start a few hours before.
If the schedule is similar to previous NASA astronaut flights from SpaceX, then about three and a half hours before launch, the crew will begin donning their custom SpaceX space suits. Once technicians confirm that the suits are properly fitted, the four astronauts will say goodbye to their families and be transported to the launch pad.
About two and a half hours before the flight – around 5:30 p.m. EST – the crew will board the Crew Dragon capsule. SpaceX technicians will then perform a number of procedures before sealing them inside the spacecraft, a process that could take around an hour.
About 45 minutes before the scheduled launch time, SpaceX will begin loading the thruster into the rocket and begin performing final checks of the spacecraft’s systems and weather to decide if the mission is safe to launch.
Once the rocket is launched, the capsule will begin a series of steps to orbit, including the separation of the first and second stages of the rocket. Within an hour, the spacecraft will fire its thrusters, placing it on the path it will follow until the astronauts return to Earth on Saturday.
He grew up in New Jersey and in ninth grade he started a business offering help to confused computer users. One of his clients was a payment processing company and his managing director offered him a job. Mr. Isaacman accepted the job and dropped out of high school at the age of 16. He obtained a General Education Development Certificate, or GED
After six months, Mr. Isaacman found a new way to handle payment processing, and in 1999 he started his own business in his parents’ basement. This evolved into Shift4 Payments, which went public in June 2020.
Mr. Isaacman began flying as a hobby, learning to fly increasingly advanced airplanes, including military fighter jets. In 2012, he created a second company called Draken International, which owns fighter jets and trains pilots in the US military. He has since sold Drakens but still flies fighter jets for fun.
Last year, Mr. Isaacman wanted to invest in SpaceX, which remains a private company, but missed the company’s latest investment offer. Mr Isaacman tried to convince SpaceX officials of his enthusiasm by telling them that he wanted to one day buy a trip to orbit. This led to conversations that led Mr. Isaacman to undertake the Inspiration4 mission. He is the mission commander.
A five-hour launch window opens Wednesday at 8:02 p.m. EST. The exact time will depend on the weather. Current forecasts give an 80 percent chance of favorable conditions. In an update posted on Twitter At around 1:20 p.m., SpaceX said the rocket’s systems were ready for flight.
If the flight cannot be launched during that five-hour period, SpaceX could try again starting at 8:05 p.m. EST on Thursday.
The launch will be broadcast live by SpaceX on its YouTube channel, and also by Netflix on its YouTube channel. Or you can watch it in the video player above.
Hayley Arceneaux, 29, is a medical assistant at St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis. Almost two decades ago, Ms. Arceneaux, who grew up in the small town of St. Francisville, Louisiana, was a patient in St. Jude when bone cancer was diagnosed in her left leg, just above. above the knee. Ms. Arceneaux underwent chemotherapy, an operation to install prosthetic leg bones, and lengthy physiotherapy sessions.
“When I grow up I want to be a nurse in St. Jude,” she said in a video presented during the ceremony in 2003. “I want to be a mentor for the patients. When they come in, I’ll tell them, ‘I had this when I was little, and I’m fine.’ “
Last year, Ms. Arceneaux was hired by St. Jude. She works with children with leukemia and lymphoma.
Ms. Arceneaux could become the youngest American to ever travel to orbit. She will also be the first person with a prosthetic body part to go into space. She will be the mission health officer.
Sian Proctor, 51, is a community college professor in Tempe, Ariz.
Dr Proctor, who is African American with a doctorate in science education, had almost become an old-fashioned astronaut. She said that in 2009, she was one of 47 finalists selected by NASA from 3,500 nominations. The space agency chose nine new astronauts that year. Dr. Proctor was not one of them.
She applied twice more and was not even among the finalists.
She always pursued her space dreams in other ways. In 2013, Dr Proctor was one of six people who lived for four months in a small building on the side of a Hawaiian volcano, as part of a NASA-funded effort to study the isolation and the stress of a long trip to Mars.
She will be the pilot of the Inspiration4 mission, the first black woman to pilot a spaceship.
Christophe Sembroski, 42, from Everett, Wash., Works in data engineering for Lockheed Martin. While in college, Mr. Sembroski worked as a counselor at Space Camp, an educational program in Huntsville, Alabama that gives children and families a taste of life as an astronaut. He also volunteered for ProSpace, a nonprofit advocacy group that pushed to open up the space to more people.
Mr. Sembroski described himself as “that guy behind the scenes, who really helps others achieve their goals and take center stage.”
He will be the mission specialist for Inspiration4, and responsible for certain tasks during the mission.
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