The all-civilian crew, made up of an e-commerce executive, a geoscientist, a physician assistant,,, and a data engineer, has landed back on earth. The spaceship has been orbiting the Earth since Wednesday and has now safely made it home.
The capsule just before it splashed down on Earth
An all-civilian crew has made it back to Earth after a three-day journey into space.
After paying an undisclosed cost, the astronauts who traveled aboard Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket vessel made it safely to Florida.
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The flight launched on Wednesday and included an e-commerce executive who reportedly paid £200 million for a space.
The crew orbited Earth at 363 miles above the Earth, which is more than the International Space Station. It also represents the highest altitude humans have reached in many years.
The four-person crew, called the Inspiration4 team, landed shortly after midnight UK time. They broadcast a live stream.
One crew member played a few chords with a ukulele as the SpaceX capsule flew at approximately 17,500 miles an hour over Europe.
Commander Jared Isaacman said: “We’re proud to share this experience with everyone. We know how fortunate we are to be here.”
Mr. Isaacman conceived the idea of the mission to raise awareness and support for one of his favorite causes, St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, a leading pediatric cancer centre in Tennessee.
They also got a glimpse at the Earth through the observation dome.
Inspiration4 crew (L-R) Jared Isaacman, Hayley Arceneaux, Christopher Sembroski, and Sian Proctor
They are Sian Proctor (51), Commander Isaacman (38), Hayley Arceneaux (29), and Chris Sembroski (42).
Preparing for the flight took five months. The team had to complete altitude fitness, microgravity, simulator training, emergency drills, and classroom work.
It is the first space-based crew made up entirely of civilians. All of them have been strapped into the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule’s pressurized cabin, which has been named Resilience.
It is the first all-civilian crew to circle the Earth
On Wednesday, it flew into the skies perched on top of one of the company’s reusable two-stage Falcon 9 rockets and fitted with the observation dome in place of its usual hatch.
It was almost 10 minutes into orbit after it launched.
The rocket’s first-stage booster separated from the spacecraft and descended safely to Earth. A drone ship called Just Read the instructions landed on the landing platform floating in the Atlantic.