Crew of the Inspiration4 mission Inspiration4/John Kraus
SpaceX is ready to do something different. SpaceX's Inspiration4 mission will launch on September 15th at 8 p.m. local time from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will be led by a crew that is not professional astronauts. The four passengers are all private individuals and not space explorers who have been trained by the government.
Although many people have been on orbit aboard spacecrafts, they were never accompanied by professionals. Although the Inspiration4 passengers have been trained to ensure their safety, they have not had to go through the long, intensive process of becoming an astronaut for a national agency.
Jared Isaacman, a billionaire pilot and commander of the mission, will serve as the commander. Two of his remaining seats were donated to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Tennessee. Hayley Arceneaux was the hospital's physician assistant. Christopher Sembroski was the data engineer and veteran of the US Air Force. He was gifted his seat by a friend who won the raffle. Sian Proctor will be the final passenger. He is a geology professor who is also a member of the US Air Force Civil Air Patrol.
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The Crew Dragon capsule used to transport SpaceX's Crew-1 mission (the firm's first operational mission to orbit the International Space Station (ISS), in November 2020) will be used by the passengers to take them to space. The majority of spacecraft operations are automated so the crew won't need to steer the ship while it orbits for three days before returning to splash down in Atlantic Ocean.
This flight opens the door to more tourists going into space. SpaceX plans to use Crew Dragon to launch more amateur trips into orbit in the coming months in collaboration with Space Adventures and Axiom.
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