SpaceX's Inspiration4 mission will be the first all-civilian spaceflight. SpaceX's crew could not be more excited.
Four people will be astronauts on Sept. 15, when they climb into the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule to take off from Earth. Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur who is from New Jersey, will lead the crew on the Inspiration4 flight. This will be the first crewed flight to orbit the Earth without professional astronauts. The crew was chosen earlier in the year and has been hard at work training for this moment, which is only weeks away.
Space.com crewmember Hayley Arcenaux said that she couldn't be more excited in a recent interview.
Similar: Inspiration4's contest-winning team.
Launch preparations for the new crew
Inspiration4 will fly alongside Isaacman as a command crew, which includes Arcenaux (a 29-year old St. Jude physician's aid and childhood bone cancer survivor) and Chris Sembroski (a North Carolina data engineer); and Sian Proctor, a geoscientist, science communicator, and artist who is also a South Mountain Community College professor.
Isaacman will use the trip to space to increase awareness and funds for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. These future astronauts can't wait.
Isaacman said that he has been extremely fortunate in his life. He said, "You don't get into a position like I'm in without the ball bouncing my way a couple of times."
"These families at St. Jude were dealt terrible hands. They are going through something that no one should have to experience. It's a terrible experience. The saddest part is that many of these kids won't have the same experiences I had in my life. We have to do something about it.
The future astronauts will fly into orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. They will orbit the Earth for three consecutive days before returning to Earth. They've been practicing for months to do this, including an early trip where they practiced crew cohesion on a hike up Mount Rainier in Washington. Since then, they have continued pushing forward.
Arcenaux, Arcenaux's medical officer, said that a lot of it was academics and independent study. He also added, "Really learning the minimal overview of the mission as well as the intricacies of our spacecraft." We've also done typical astronaut training including centrifuge training. Next, we will do water survival training and the hyperbaric chamber.
The crew recently had the chance to fly with a fighter plane as part of their continuing training. This will continue until the crew lifts off next month.
Proctor, the mission's pilot, stated on Twitter that flying is the most rewarding part of @inspiration4x.
The best part of @inspiration4x #AstronautTraining? Flying. Even though the rocket is going faster, this allows us to develop situational awareness in complex fighter jets. https://t.co/JBWXZXxTG9August 10, 2021 See more
The crew learned their "callsigns" during fighter jet training. These are nicknames astronauts and pilots use to communicate in flight. Sembroski's nickname is "Hanks", Proctor is called "Leo", Issaacman "Rook", and Arcenaux "Nova."
The excitement is growing
While the crew has been busy learning and training, they still share their excitement for their space adventure.
Arcenaux stated, "There are so many things that I'm excited for." "Of course, experiencing zero-g and floating in space and that moment when I see Earth from space. What I am most excited about is calling the St. Jude patients in space.
Arcenaux is now a St. Jude physician's assistant, but she was once a St. Jude patient as a child. After surviving bone cancer, she will be calling St. Jude's children from space. She will also be the first person to use a prosthetic body piece to reach space.
She said, "It's going to be so much fun for our children to see somebody in their shoes, getting up and accomplishing their dreams and then knowing they can do it too."
Since I was 10, all I have wanted to do is work for St. Jude. She said that she never imagined herself as an astronaut. "Astronauts have always had to be physically fit. I do not fit that description. Since they saved my leg, I have a metal rod in mine. I feel so honored to be helping pave the way."
Isaacman said previously to Space.com that Arcenaux was a great human being who represents our mission and spirit.
Arcenaux actually put her prosthetic to the ultimate test as part of crew fighter jet training. "I called my ortho surgeon to confirm that my prosthesis can handle 8 Gs!" #cancersurvivorscan," Arcenaux tweeted after their flight training.
Related: Behind-the scenes look at SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule. (photos).
A team of inspiring people
The crew is excited to return to space and share their journeys and stories with the planet.
Proctor told Space.com that it is something he dreams of throughout his life.
Sembroski found the experience a little difficult to believe. Largely because he was not originally meant to fly on Inspiration4. Sembroski was part of the St. Jude's non profit fundraising campaign that offered a seat on the flight for a lucky contest winner. Sembroski is a friend of the person who donated the original seat.
It feels so satisfying, amazing and overwhelmingly satisfying. "I feel so fortunate that there was such generosity afforded me to make it all happen," Sembroski said in an additional interview to Space.com.
The crew is less than a month away from launch and has stated that it is finally sinking in. They're going to space.
Sembroski stated that the realization hit him when he opened the [mission gift] bag, pulled out the mission patches and held them in his hands for a while. "And just holding that patch in your hands, and feeling it and making that physical connection with the story you just watched on the computer screen.
He said that the truth of the mission and its values began to sink in after he met Proctor and witnessed her passion for space during the preparations for the mission.
He said that she won "on the basis of her heart and her love for space art and not her experience or her resume." She's accomplished so many amazing things but it wasn't about her resume or anything. It was simply that she let her true passion for space and art shine through her winning seat.
He said, "I believe it really goes to heart of the mission," he continued. "Inspiring others to follow their dreams."
Crew will launch aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, on top of a Falcon 9 Rocket from launch facility 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch is currently being recorded for a Netflix series. It is expected to take place no later than September 15.
Chelsea Gohd can be reached at cgohd@space.com. Follow her on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @Spacedotcom
