SpaceX will launch the world’s first all-civilian spaceflight to orbit on Wednesday, September 15. The historic Inspiration4 mission aims to fundraise a total of $200 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Shift4 Payments founder Jared Isaacman paid for the spaceflight and donated $100 million for the children’s hospital that provides life-saving treatment at no cost. "This dream began 10 months ago," Isaacman said on Tuesday afternoon during a press conference, "We set out from the start to deliver a very inspiring message, certainly the opportunities up in space and what can be done there. But also what we can accomplish here on Earth."
Watch live as the @Inspiration4x crew talks about their upcoming three-day spaceflight https://t.co/14dXTUdxak
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 14, 2021
Each crewmember Isaacman invited on the space tour represents some of humanity’s best traits: Leadership, Hope, Generosity, and Prosperity. Isaacman represents ‘Leadership’ as commander of the Inspiration4 mission. Representing ‘Hope' is Inspiration4 Medical Officer Hayley Arceneaux, a 29-year-old physician assistant who survived pediatric bone cancer and now works at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. She will make history as the youngest woman to launch to space and the first space traveler with a prosthetic on her left leg bone. “We could not be more excited about the mission,” Arceneaux said about her St. Jude patients. “I think we have a lot of future astronauts at St. Jude now.”
Missed today’s Q&A with the #Inspiration4 crew? Watch the replay here: https://t.co/DC89qupP7F pic.twitter.com/vmdT2q0Bf7
— Inspiration4 (@inspiration4x) September 15, 2021
Inspiration4 Mission Specialist Chris Sembroski, an Air Force veteran and aerospace data engineer represents ‘Generosity.’ He won a seat aboard Crew Dragon for making a donation to St. Jude. ‘Prosperity’ is embodied by Inspiration4 Pilot Dr. Sian Proctor, a geoscientist and entrepreneur who will make history as the fourth black woman in space. “I hope people take the opportunity to look ahead and to look to each other and feel inspired to pursue whatever it is that you are passionate about,” Sembroski said at the conference.
After around 10 months of training the crew is ready for liftoff! “SpaceX is targeting a five-hour launch window on Wednesday, September 15, opening at 8:02 p.m. EDT (Thursday, September 16 at 00:02 UTC) for launch of the Inspiration4 mission – the world’s first all-civilian human spaceflight to orbit – aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida,” the company announced. SpaceX will Livestream the Inspiration4 launch around 4 hours before liftoff, video below.
Falcon 9 and Dragon on pad 39A in Florida. Five-hour launch window for @inspiration4x opens at 8:02 p.m. EDT on September 15 https://t.co/bJFjLCzWdK pic.twitter.com/e7WTsNPavA
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 15, 2021
The crew plans to conduct science research in microgravity and send an inspiring message to children at St. Jude while they orbit Earth for around three days along a customized flight path. They will orbit Earth at an altitude of 575-kilometers – a higher altitude than the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope. “Approximately three days after liftoff, Dragon and the Inspiration4 crew will return to Earth and splash down at one of several possible landing sites off the Florida coast,” the company said. If you would like to learn more about the flight and crewmembers you can watch the new Netflix docuseries - Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission To Space - which details their journey.
Watch Countdown on Netflix about Inspiration4 mission launching today
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 15, 2021
Featured Image Source: SpaceX & Inspiration4
About the Author
Evelyn Arevalo
Evelyn J. Arevalo joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover news as a Space Journalist and SpaceX Starbase Texas Correspondent. Evelyn is specialized in rocketry and space exploration. The main topics she covers are SpaceX and NASA.
