The first all-civilian space mission was launched on September 15, 2021, from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. Florida. The Inspiration4 mission ventured deeper into space than the International Space Station. It was the first mission to orbit Earth without a professional astronaut aboard. The four-member crew was sent on a three-day mission to orbit Earth in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. It is seen as part of an effort to open up space travel to non-professionals.
Aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule dubbed Resilience, Isaacman — a self-described space geek who has accrued more than 6,000 hours piloting various aircraft — was the commander of the flight. Joining him were physician assistant Hayley Arcenaux, data engineer Chris Sembroski, and geoscientist and science communication specialist Sian Proctor.
Resilience and its four occupants circled Earth for three days, splashing down off the Florida coast on Sept. 18. The primary purposes of Inspiration4, according to the mission’s official website, were to raise awareness and funds for St. Jude and to begin “a new era for human spaceflight and exploration.”
Inspiration4 was chartered by Jared Isaacman, billionaire CEO and founder of Shift4 Payments, a payment processing company that he established as a 16-year-old and which now handles billions of transactions each year.
Credit : Space.com
Picture Credit : Google
