SpaceX
Following the high-profile maiden voyages of Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin, today it is SpaceX’s turn to set a new milestone in its own commercial space. The earlier mission named “Inspiration 4” was successfully lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, becoming the first mission in history that was composed entirely of civilians and took the private space service (SpaceX) to orbit the earth. The crew of the mission was commanded by the billionaire Jared Issacman, who was funded, and the other three crews were the pilot Sian Proctor, the medical officer Hayley Arceneaux, and the mission commissioner Chris Sembroski.
The Inspiration4 mission will stay in space for three days. Because it is not ready to dock with the International Space Station, it is quite free in launch time and orbit. They will reach an orbit up to about 540 kilometers and do a small amount of scientific research, but most of them are really space tourists and go on a “three-day trip in space.”
The rocket launched is naturally Falcon 9, and the space capsule is Endeavour, which has already gone through two missions-this space capsule is responsible for the previous Demo-2 and Crew-2 missions, but this time it is the third lift-off. Since it does not need to be docked with the space station, SpaceX replaced the docking interface at its top with a semi-spherical transparent cover, allowing passengers inside to enjoy a 360-degree panoramic view. This cover is known as “the largest window in space at present”, and the Crew Dragon nasal mask that covers it also has a camera installed, allowing you to see the astronaut in the cover from the outside.
It’s worth mentioning that none of the four occupants actually had any experience in space. This is a free rider for other government missions from space tourists in the past, so it is very different from most well-trained astronauts driving spacecraft. The crew of Inspiration4 is actually the first time. To this end, they conducted 6 months of training. In addition to physical training and basic knowledge of supplements, they also conducted long-term simulator training to learn how to deal with various temporary situations. However, there are still some things that can only be experienced after they are actually in space (such as going to the toilet).
Jared Issacman himself is an experienced airplane pilot and the CEO of Shift4 Payments. Sian Proctor is a professor of earth sciences, and once participated in NASA’s astronaut selection, but failed in the final stage. Hayley Arceneaux is a physician assistant at St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Since this mission will also raise funds for cancer-related research at St. Jude Children’s Hospital, with a goal of 200 million US dollars, a place is reserved for hospital staff. Hayley herself suffered from cancer as a child, and even replaced a knee joint, making her the first astronaut to go to space with a prosthetic leg. Chris Sembroski is the true “tourist” of this mission. His friend won the fourth place in the lottery, but gave him the opportunity to go to space. Chris works as a data engineer, but because he works for Lockheed Martin, he also has a certain understanding of aerospace-related matters, and he is also a veteran.
This launch set the record for the largest number of people in earth orbit at the same time (14 people), and there were three Dragon capsules (two people and one cargo) in orbit at the same time.