SpaceX launched the world’s first all-civilian crew to orbit the Earth on Wednesday, September 15. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad-39A, igniting a new era of civilian spaceflight as it propelled Crew Dragon Resilience to orbit leaving a trail of fire and smoke behind in the night sky. The historic Inspiration4 mission launched Shift4Payments founder Jared Isaacman, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Physician Assistant Hayley Arceneaux, Geoscience Professor Dr. Sian Proctor, and Air Force veteran/Lockheed Martin Engineer Chris Sembroski. The mission is remarkable because it is a crew of civilians who are not professional astronauts, they only trained for around six months to launch to space. The Inspiration4 crew are SpaceX's civilian spaceflight pioneers who are leading the way for more non-professional astronauts to visit space.
The crew of #Inspiration4 had an incredible first day in space! They’ve completed more than 15 orbits around planet Earth since liftoff and made full use of the Dragon cupola. pic.twitter.com/StK4BTWSA6
— Inspiration4 (@inspiration4x) September 17, 2021
The Inspiration4 mission is a huge fundraising effort for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, they have raised around $160 million as of today. The crew hopes to use their new-found fame to reach their goal of fundraising a total of $200 million. The crew took some items to space that they will auction to reach their fundraising goal, including a ukulele, art, watches, jackets, plush toys, among other things that you can bid for via St. Jude Inspiration4 official website: Inspiration4.com/donate
With the Inspiration4 crew SpaceX accomplished several firsts in the history of spaceflight including: the first all-civilian human spaceflight to go on a three-day voyage orbiting around Earth; Dr. Sian Proctor became the first black female spacecraft pilot and the fourth to ever visit space; and Hayley Arceneaux became the youngest American in space and the first person to fly to space with a prosthetic on her left leg after surviving childhood bone cancer.
After a three-day journey around Earth, the Inspiration4 crew returned from space on Saturday, September 18. During their space voyage, they video called St. Jude patients, enjoyed breathtaking views of Earth from Crew Dragons new cupola window, and conducted science research. They returned to space this evening after a three day spaceflight around Earth during which they orbited our planet at a high-speed of approximately 17,500 mph (miles per hour).
Orbital moonrise pic.twitter.com/vrx8Jzeu1t
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 18, 2021
The space travelers orbited Earth at an altitude of 585-kilometers above our planet, which is the furthest anyone has been to since astronauts last serviced the Hubble Space Telescope over a decade ago and when astronauts traveled to the moon nearly fifty years ago. SpaceX is pushing the boundaries of commercial spaceflight and these past three days the company has demonstrated it can safely launch and return civilians. The Inspiration4 crew reentered Earth’s atmosphere on Saturday evening. The Dragon spacecraft operates in full autonomy, it is programmed to know exactly when to fire its thrusters to reorient itself back into our planet. The crew entered Earth’s atmosphere which slowed the capsule down to around 350 mph. As the spacecraft entered the atmosphere it experienced super hot temperatures of over 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit, Dragon features heat-shield that ensures the vehicle does not go above 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
Crew of @Inspiration4x - first all-civilian human spaceflight to orbit - returns to Earth pic.twitter.com/pnjkDjnkAw
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 18, 2021
The spacecraft and spacesuits also feature sensors that detect temperature, pressure, and altitude to set the ambience automatically. The atmosphere slowed down the spacecraft to around 350 mph, then Dragon Resilience deployed its drogue twin parachutes that slowed down the vehicle to around 120 mph at an altitude of 18,000 feet. Then the main pair of parachutes deployed to slow the spacecraft more, at around 15 mph Dragon splashed down off the coast of Florida in the Atlantic Ocean at 7:06 p.m. EDT –marking the completion of the world’s first all-civilian orbital mission to space.
Splashdown! Welcome back to planet Earth, @Inspiration4x! pic.twitter.com/94yLjMBqWt
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 18, 2021
Upon splashdown, SpaceX recovery teams recovered Crew Dragon with a sea-going 'GO Searcher' ship and got the civilian crew out of the capsule safely. “Congratulations Inspiration4!” SpaceX founder Elon Musk said, “Missions like Inspiration4 help advance spaceflight to enable ultimately anyone to go to orbit & beyond,” he said. SpaceX’s recovery team is now in the process of flying the crew aboard a helicopter to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center where medical teams will ensure the crew is healthy. So far, all looks good - Inspiration4 representatives shared first photographs of the crew exiting the spacecraft. You can watch the full broadcast of the Inspiration4 crew's return from space in the video below, courtesy of SpaceX. Netflix also has a documentary series about SpaceX’s historic spaceflight where you can follow the crew’s journey called - Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission To Space.
Welcome home @rookisaacman! pic.twitter.com/yYSLWyoalQ
— Inspiration4 (@inspiration4x) September 19, 2021
All Featured Images Source: Inspiration4 & SpaceX via Twitter
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.
