SpaceX's “Inspiration4” space tourism mission is sending four private individuals out into space.
The crew will be higher than the ISS and “Hubble”.
Kennedy Space Center - When a crew of four climbs into their space capsule at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the night of Wednesday (15.09.2021) on Thursday, something historic takes its course: No member of the crew is a trained astronaut. Nevertheless, a SpaceX * rocket will launch the “Crew Dragon” space capsule with the four people on board into space - the target is Earth orbit. The four lay astronauts are supposed to circle the earth at an altitude of 575 kilometers inside for three days, then the capsule is supposed to float off the coast of Florida.
It is the "Inspiration4" mission that billionaires Elon Musk * and Jared Isaacman announced earlier this year *.
Isaacman booked the space flight with Musk's company SpaceX and pays for the costs; he selected the three other crew members - partly as part of a competition.
The result was a very diverse crew, consisting of two women and two men who actually only have one thing in common: Neither of them has ever been in space.
Space tourism mission "Inspiration4": SpaceX flies a four-person lay crew in earth orbit
Then the similarities end.
While billionaire Isaacman flies warplanes and holds flight world records and participant Dr.
Sian Proctor was already shortlisted as a NASA astronaut, the second participant Hayley Arceneaux has no points of contact with space.
On the contrary: When she found out about her selection, she naively asked whether she would now fly "to the moon" - only to find out that there had been no people on the moon for many decades.
The fourth member of the group, Chris Sembroski, would not have asked this question: He has been interested in space travel for a long time and has worked in the industry.
This is the "Inspiration4" crew:
Jared Isaacman (38):
billionaire businessman and pilot who holds several world flight records
Hayley Arceneaux (29):
survived cancer in her childhood and now works at St. Jude's Hospital, for which the "Inspiration4" mission collects donations.
Will be the youngest American woman and first person in space with a prosthesis.
Chris Sembroski (42):
Works in the aerospace industry
Dr.
Sian Proctor (51):
geoscientist and science communicator.
Was shortlisted as a NASA astronaut and will now be the fourth black woman in space.
SpaceX: History is waiting for the crew of the "Inspiration4" mission
Although the "Inspiration4" crew does not fly to the moon, they still have something extraordinary in mind: the space capsule will be 575 kilometers away from Earth - since the last mission to the moon in 1972, no one has been that far "out" in space and Apart from the “Apollo” astronauts, there are so far only four people who were further away from the earth: The crews of the NASA missions “Gemini 10” (763 kilometers) and “Gemini 11” (1372 kilometers). The International Space Station ISS (approx. 420 kilometers) and the “Hubble” space telescope (approx. 540 kilometers) are both closer to the earth than the “Inspiration4” crew will soon be.
The start of the SpaceX mission is planned for September 16, 2021 from 2.02 a.m.
Then the five-hour window opens for the launch, which takes place in a historic location: launch pad 39A in the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
All "Apollo" missions to the moon and many space shuttle flights started there before they were mothballed.
SpaceX has now leased the launch site and uses it to launch the “Falcon 9” rocket.
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SpaceX's "Falcon 9" rocket is ready at the Kennedy Space Center.
At the very top: the “Crew Dragon” space capsule.
© Inspiration4 / dpa
"Inspiration4" mission: SpaceX gives the go-ahead for space tourism
SpaceX capsules with people on board have lifted off the earth three times and each time they have flown to the International Space Station ISS.
But here, too, “Inspiration4” is an exception: SpaceX's fourth astronautical mission does not target the space station, the US space organization Nasa * is not involved in the flight.
The space capsule itself is largely automated, the crew does not normally have to intervene - otherwise it would not be possible to send a crew of laymen into space in the capsule *.
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After the tourist excursions of the billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos into space, the age of space tourism finally begins with the start of the SpaceX mission "Inspiration4" at the latest. However, it is far from affordable for everyone: While a seat on board a Virgin Galactic space flight should cost around 450,000 US dollars, the prices of SpaceX and Blue Origin are not yet known, but should not be cheaper. For a place in a SpaceX capsule that flies to the ISS, potential space tourists are said to have to pay around 55 million US dollars inside. (tab)
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