KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — For the first time ever, an all-civilian human spaceflight will take place in a SpaceX mission named Inspiration4.
What You Need To Know
- None of the four crew members are professional astronauts
- The 24-hour launch window is scheduled to open at 8 p.m. EDT, Wednesday, Sept. 15
- They will orbit Earth for three days before returning in a splashdown off the coast of Florida
The Inspiration4 mission is made up of:
- Mission Commander: Jared Isaacman, the CEO of Shift4 Payments and accomplished pilot
- Mission Pilot: Dr. Sian Proctor, a geoscientist and science communication specialist with a pilot’s license
- Mission Specialist: Chris Sembroski, who works at Lockheed Martin and U.S. Airforce veteran
- Medical Officer: Hayley Arceneaux, a cancer survivor who works at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as a physician assistant
Our crew is continuing final preparations for launch and teams are targeting no earlier than 8:00 p.m. ET on September 15 for liftoff of #Inspiration4.
— Inspiration4 (@inspiration4x) September 10, 2021
SpaceX and Inspiration4 will narrow down the launch window to five hours approximately three days before liftoff. pic.twitter.com/l6zmkGk6Zo
Some of the crew members represent a mission pillar:
- Proctor represents prosperity
- Sembroski represents generosity
- Arceneaux embodies hope
What makes this civilian mission so unique is that none of the four crew members are professional astronauts or associated with any government space agency.
Since March of this year, the four crewmembers have spent months training for this mission.
The purpose of the Inspiration4 is to inspire others in the hope of raising awareness and donations to St. Jude, according to the mission’s manifest.
The 24-hour launch window is scheduled to open at 8 p.m. EDT, Wednesday, Sept. 15, from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center.
The four civilians will be onboard SpaceX’s Dragon capsule as the Falcon 9 rocket takes them into the great beyond for a three-day mission that will orbit the Earth.
Falcon 9 and Dragon vertical on historic Launch Complex 39A ahead of launching @Inspiration4x pic.twitter.com/Q3iFSFXQmK
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 12, 2021
Once the crew is finished conducting “experiments designed to expand our knowledge of the universe,” according to the Inspiration4 mission statement, the Dragon will re-enter Earth and splashdown off the coast of Florida’s waters in the Atlantic Ocean.
The 45th Weather Squadron has given a 70% chance of favorable weather for the launch day.