Shortly after 2 am Italian time, 8 pm local time, Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with on board, for the first time, a crew of only 4 civilians without any professional astronaut. The rocket took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a three-day mission in Earth orbit at a height of 575 kilometers, well beyond the International Space Station. A huge ball of fire, greeted by long applause, lit up the sky as the rocket’s nine engines began to drift away from Earth.
The Inspiration4 mission sees billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman in the role of commander, who created it just 10 months ago to raise funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. With him on board are aerospace engineer Chris Sembroski, popularizer Sian Proctor, and 29-year-old Hayley Arceneaux. The four will conduct on board scientific studies on the reactions of the human body to space travel.