23 November 2024, Sat |
8:17 AM
Elon Musk’s Inspiration 4 is scheduled to launch four civilians into Earth’s orbit for three days. As Elon Musk’s company enters the space tourism market, SpaceX will launch four passengers into space on a three-day mission. They will be the first private citizens to orbit the Earth in a three-day mission. It started with Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos traveling to the final frontier on different platforms, just a few days apart, on Virgin Galactic spacecraft.
American billionaire Jared Isaacman, 38, is the founder and CEO of payment processing firm Shift4 Payment and is chartering SpaceX’s flight. He is also an experienced pilot. No price has been disclosed for the contract, but it runs into tens of millions of dollars. It will fly further than the International Space Station‘s orbit once it reaches space. “The risk is not zero,” Isaacman explained in a documentary on Netflix. “You’re riding a rocket at 17,500 miles (28,000 kilometers) per hour around the Earth. In that kind of environment, there are risks.”
The voyage will be led by Isaacman, who is also the mission commander, as well as three notable members of the public, selected in a process that was advertised at the Super Bowl in February.
Each crew member represented a different part of the mission.
The youngest of the three is Hayley Arceneaux, a childhood cancer survivor, who represents ‘hope’ in her case. It will be the first time a person with a prosthetic goes into space. Among the reasons she was chosen was that she is employed in Memphis by St. Jude’s Hospital, the charity Inspired4 supports.
“Generosity” was awarded to Chris Sembroski, a veteran of the US Air Force who is currently working in the aviation industry.
Among those offered the last seat, “prosperity,” was Earth science professor Sian Proctor, 51, who narrowly missed becoming a NASA astronaut in 2009. She will become just the fourth African American woman in space.
This will be the first time non-professional astronauts will be sent to the ISS for NASA. The company has already sent astronauts to the ISS for NASA more than ten times. Earlier this year, NASA’s Apollo missions to the Moon took off from launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Center in Florida. The launch for this mission is scheduled to take place Wednesday at 8:00 pm Eastern Time (00:00 GMT).
