The first-ever all-civilian space crew has successfully reached orbit aboard a SpaceX flight. It is the first time in history a crew without a trained astronaut has entered space.
The four civilian astronauts were captained by Jared Isaacman, a 38-year-old entrepreneur. He was joined by Sian Proctor, 51, Hayley Arceneaux, 29, and Chris Sembroski, 42.
The rocket launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida and 10 minutes later left Earth's atmosphere. The flight was organised by SpaceX, owned by Tesla founder Elon Musk, and involved a SpaceX reusable rocket and two-stage Falcon 9 rockets.
Once the capsule had reached 125 miles (200 km) above Earth, a round of applause could be heard at space command and Isaacman read a statement saying:
"Right to the doorstep of an exciting and unexplored frontier, where few have come before and many are about to follow. The door is open now, and it's pretty incredible."
Three hours later, the capsule had reached 363 miles above Earth, circling the Earth every 90 minutes at a speed of 17,000 miles per hour (27,360 kph). Remarkably, this is the furthest any human being has been from Earth since the 1972 Apollo mission to the moon and is further away than the International Space Station.
Elon Musk hopes that this great achievement will set the stage for civilian commercial space travel, which they believe could be a major trend in the years ahead. The price of these initial flights will likely be far in excess of anything that an average person could afford. The price for the flight for four individuals aboard SpaceX is estimated to be around $200 million.
Prior to the launch, NASA tweeted:
"#Inspiration4 embodies our vision for a future in which private companies can transport cargo and people to low-Earth orbit. More opportunities to fly = more opportunities for science."
#Inspiration4 embodies our vision for a future in which private companies can transport cargo and people to low-Earth orbit. More opportunities to fly = more opportunities for science: https://t.co/yqmC68iEIw pic.twitter.com/uuhoIyI8Vx
— NASA (@NASA) September 15, 2021
A number of billionaires, including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson have been in a race to be the first to take space flight to the next level, at least within the commercial sphere. All three own their own space exploration companies. Earlier this year, both Bezos and Branson themselves entered space on their own custom-made rockets.
While many are thrilled that space flight is reaching new dimensions, others have suggested that the vast wealth being spent on such projects that have little scientific purpose would be better spent on good causes and helping people on Earth.
[h/t: Reuters]
COMMENTS