Space Tourism - This time for Real - SpaceX Inspiration4 [Live: 16.09.2021, 00:02 UTC]

The first real space tourism flight is about to happen. It will be the first time four private citizens will be operating a space craft in orbit.

Inspiration4 Mission: Everything You Need to Know | TIME

How did that come about? Jared Isaacman, founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, wanted to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and inspire people at the same time.

Specifically, he wants to inspire four virtues: Leadership, Prosperity, Hope, and Generosity. Each idea should be represented by a crew member. After an involved process, the team is comprised of:

• Leadership: Jared Isaacman as commander
• Prosperity: Dr. Sian Proctor as pilot
• Hope: Hayley Arceneaux as medical officer
• Generosity: Christopher Sembroski as mission specialist

Inspiration4 | Q&A with Inspiration4 Crew

The Inspiration4 mission will launch from Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The crew is flying in an adapted Dragon 2 capsule up to an orbit of 575 km. The mission will last three days in total (15 orbits of Earth per day).

Because the capsule will not dock to the ISS, the docking adapter was replaced with a glass cupola through which the crew can have an almost unobstructed view of Earth and space.

Check your local time of launch at: www.timeanddate.com

Where to watch:

• The Everyday Astronaut

• SpaceX Livestream

• Netflix

A second tourist trip on a SpaceX Dragon 2 capsule is in the works. This time by Space Adventures, a space tourism company. The company is offering four seats, $55 million each, on the Space Adventures Crew Dragon mission late this or early next year.

Background information about previous SpaceX launches: Wikipedia

Useful links to stay up to date on launches:

Spaceflightnow.com: Launch Schedule

Everyday Astronaut: Prelaunch Previews

Space News:

NASA Spaceflight nasaspacefight.com

Vote for my witness: @blue-witness

Posted with STEMGeeks