Historic All Civilian Crew Set To Launch Next Week

The Falcon 9 rocket was spotted in motion as it was being transported from its processing facility to the Launch Complex 39A, gearing up for its historic launch next week taking place no earlier than 8pm EDT on September 15th, 2021 -- delayed a day from its original schedule due to weather concerns.

The crew for the Inspiration4 mission was announced in March of this year, and the group has arrived at the Kennedy Space center in Florida from Los Angeles in preparation for the launch.

Inspiration4 will be the first mission in history to send an all civilian crew into orbit without a NASA astronaut onboard. This mission is about sending inspiration to the general public for space travel and is commanded by long time terrestrial pilot Jared Isaacman. Isaacman is the 38-year-old founder and Chief Executive Officer of Shift4 Payments.

Isaacman will be joined by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital physician and pediatric cancer survivor, Hayley Arcenauex, college geology professor and science communicator Dr. Sian Proctor and aerospace engineer Chris Sembroski.

The group just learned of their flight earlier this year after being selected by a panel of judges and have been training for the past few months. The mission will travel across a low earth orbit on a multi-day journey that, according to the Inspiration4 website, will continually eclipse more than 90% of the earth’s population.

The mission is intended to bring awareness to fundraising efforts for St. Judes Hospital, with the goal being to raise $200 million to support kids with cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

FMI: https://inspiration4.com