{"id":17493,"date":"2021-09-15T18:38:29","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T10:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/with-a-billionaires-backing-spacex-sends-citizen-spacefliers-into-orbit-for-a-mission-like-no-other\/"},"modified":"2021-09-15T18:38:29","modified_gmt":"2021-09-15T10:38:29","slug":"with-a-billionaires-backing-spacex-sends-citizen-spacefliers-into-orbit-for-a-mission-like-no-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/with-a-billionaires-backing-spacex-sends-citizen-spacefliers-into-orbit-for-a-mission-like-no-other\/","title":{"rendered":"With a billionaire\u2019s backing, SpaceX sends citizen spacefliers into orbit for a mission like no other"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_642404\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-642404\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-642404\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/210915-spacex2-630x338.jpg\" alt=\"SpaceX Falcon 9 liftoff\" width=\"630\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/210915-spacex2-630x338.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/210915-spacex2-1260x676.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/210915-spacex2-768x412.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/210915-spacex2-1536x824.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/210915-spacex2.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-642404\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Florida, sending four citizen spacefliers into orbit. (SpaceX via YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A tech billionaire and three other non-professional spacefliers blasted off today to begin the first non-governmental, philanthropic mission carrying a crew to orbit.<\/p>\n<p>The founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, Jared Isaacman, is paying what\u2019s thought to be in excess of $100 million for what\u2019s expected to be a three-day flight in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.<\/p>\n<p>Isaacman organized the Inspiration4 mission with SpaceX\u2019s help as a benefit for St. Jude Children\u2019s Research Hospital in Memphis. The 38-year-old billionaire kicked off the $200 million campaign with a commitment to donate $100 million himself.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8:02 p.m. ET (5:02 p.m. PT). \u201cPunch it, SpaceX!\u201d Isaacman told mission control.<\/p>\n<p>On the webcast, every phase of the ascent drew raucous cheers from hundreds of SpaceX employees who gathered at the company\u2019s headquarters in California. Nearly half a million viewers watched the streaming coverage at its peak.<\/p>\n<p>Minutes after liftoff, the rocket\u2019s reusable first-stage booster flew itself back to an at-sea landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic, while the second stage pushed the Crew Dragon the rest of the way to orbit.<\/p>\n<p>After the Dragon reached orbit, Isaacman noted that he and his \u201call-civilian\u201d crew had wedged their way to space through a metaphorical door that relatively few humans have gone through. \u201cMany are about to follow,\u201d said Isaacman, an amateur jet pilot who\u2019s been trained to take control of the Dragon if its autonomous navigation system fails. \u201cThe door is opening now, and it\u2019s pretty incredible,\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Inspiration4 | Launch\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3pv01sSq44w?start=15386&amp;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Although the flight started out from NASA-owned property, the space agency has minimal involvement in this mission.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of heading for the International Space Station, as all of SpaceX\u2019s other crewed flights have done, this Crew Dragon will trace an orbit that rises as high as 363 miles (585 kilometers). That\u2019s higher than the space station, and higher than the Hubble Space Telescope. In fact, Inspiration4 will be humanity\u2019s highest-flying space trip since the space shuttle fleet\u2019s Hubble missions, which took place when the space telescope was at a slightly loftier altitude.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"callout clearfix\"><strong>Previously:<\/strong> Why Inspiration4\u2019s \u2018all-civilian\u2019 trip to orbit represents the dawn of a second space age<\/h4>\n<p>The high-altitude itinerary is in line with SpaceX\u2019s aspirations to go beyond Earth orbit \u2014 aspirations that Inspiration4 mission director Todd Ericson said were in line with Isaacman\u2019s view. \u201cWe want to start taking those first steps out toward becoming an interplanetary species, which means we\u2019ve got to start working our way above low Earth orbit,\u201d Ericson told GeekWire during a pre-launch interview.<\/p>\n<p>For this trip, SpaceX developed a cupola that\u2019s taking the place of the Crew Dragon\u2019s docking port and will provide a 360-degree view of Earth below or the sky above.<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s launch marked the culmination of a process that began with a Super Bowl commercial and continued with months of training for Isaacman and his three crewmates. The training included hours upon hours of studies and simulations, a zero-gravity airplane flight, some nausea-inducing centrifuge sessions, high-G jet maneuvers and a climbing trip to Mount Rainier in May.<\/p>\n<p>Isaacman\u2019s three crewmates were chosen in a variety of ways. They include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Hayley Arceneaux<\/strong>, a survivor of childhood cancer who became a physician assistant at St. Jude. Hospital officials chose Arceneaux to fly at Isaacman\u2019s invitation. She\u2019s the first person to go into space with a prosthesis \u2014 a titanium rod that was put in her left leg during treatment for bone cancer. And at the age of 29, Arceneaux is the youngest American to go into space. (Dutch student Oliver Daemen holds the world record for youngest in space by virtue of July\u2019s suborbital flight on a Blue Origin spaceship. He was 18 at the time.)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sian Proctor<\/strong>, 51, an Arizona-based educator and artist who\u2019s backing up Isaacman as the Crew Dragon\u2019s pilot. That makes her the first Black female pilot on an orbital space mission. Proctor was chosen through an online competition for users of Shift4\u2019s online payment system.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Chris Sembroski<\/strong>, 42, an Air Force veteran who lives in Everett, Wash., and works for Lockheed Martin as a data engineer. Sembroski has been a space buff since his youth, and entered Inspiration4\u2019s charity sweepstakes for the fourth spot on the mission. His ticket wasn\u2019t picked, but the winner turned out to be a college buddy of his. That buddy decided not to go and picked Sembroski to fly instead.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Sembroski will be in charge of managing the payloads aboard the Crew Dragon \u2014 including medical experiments, flown-in-space items that will be auctioned off to benefit St. Jude, and a ukulele that he\u2019ll play in space.<\/p>\n<p>During the three days that they\u2019re scheduled to spend in orbit, the Inspiration4 foursome will monitor their radiation exposure, glucose levels and other health indicators. They\u2019ll conduct a variety of educational and outreach activities, including schoolroom classes and contacts with cancer patients. But they\u2019ll also have plenty of time to look out at Earth through their custom-made cupola.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course I\u2019m going to be looking down at my home in Western Washington,\u201d Sembroski said before liftoff. \u201cI\u2019m also looking to see what I don\u2019t see \u2014 and that\u2019s going to be lines on a map or those walls that seem to separate all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Update for Sept. 16:<\/strong> The launch prompted Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos to tweet for the first time since February 2020. Bezos and SpaceX founder Elon Musk have had their differences over their competing space programs, but Bezos offered his congratulations on the launch this morning:<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=b0yle&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1438535180407377923&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com%2F2021%2Fbillionaires-backing-spacex-sends-citizen-spacefliers-orbit-mission-like-no%2F&amp;sessionId=e3c5684fe45fa6cd7e34ab4e5d372b928e3be78d&amp;siteScreenName=geekwire&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"1438535180407377923\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782800181409249477=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Congratulations to @ElonMusk and the @SpaceX team on their successful Inspiration4 launch last night. Another step towards a future where space is accessible to all of us.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) September 16, 2021<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Florida, sending four citizen spacefliers into orbit. (SpaceX via YouTube) A tech billionaire and three other non-professional spacefliers blasted off today to begin the first non-governmental, philanthropic mission carrying a crew to orbit. The founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, Jared Isaacman, is paying what\u2019s thought to be [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1798,493,316],"class_list":["post-17493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-inspiration4","tag-space-tourism","tag-spacex"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17493"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17493\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}