SpaceX’s Inspiration4 Civilian Crew Completes 3-Day Mission

Now, there might be a new market for private travel to orbit. “There’s tons of interest,” Benji Reed, the senior director of human spaceflight at SpaceX, said of flights in Crew Dragon during a telephone news conference after the splashdown. “And it’s growing now, a lot.”

Orbital spaceflight is still far too expensive for anyone except the richest of the rich, but by giving a chance to people who represent the larger society, Mr. Isaacman said he hoped to inspire a future generation to dream bigger.

The crew members underwent months of intense training, similar to what NASA astronauts have to learn before launching on SpaceX rockets.

The four astronauts appeared on the cover of Time magazine. Netflix produced a documentary series following their training, and a final episode recounting their flight will air at the end of the month.

Liftoff, on Wednesday evening, was on time and flawless. After a couple of thruster burns, the capsule was in orbit 366 miles above Earth, the highest astronauts have gone since a mission to repair the Hubble.

Then, at least for the general public, the mission went quiet for a day, with only a few bare-bones updates posted on Twitter. As a private mission and not one run by NASA, the crew had no obligation to make public appearances.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/18/science/spacex-inspiration4.html