Mon, Sep 20, 2021
Musk Donates $50M To St. Jude Fund-Raising
After three days orbiting Earth, the astronauts of Inspiration4 flying aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft safely splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 7:06 p.m. EDT.
The return marks the completion of the world’s first all-civilian human spaceflight to orbit, which launched on a flight-proven SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021.
Dragon performed a series of departure phasing burns to leave the circular orbit of 575 kilometers and then jettisoned its trunk ahead of its deorbit burn. After re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere, the spacecraft deployed its two drogue and four main parachutes in preparation for the soft water landing.
Upon splashdown, the Inspiration4 astronauts were welcomed home by the SpaceX team and quickly brought on board the recovery vessel. SpaceX transported Dragon back to Cape Canaveral for inspections and refurbishment ahead of future human spaceflight missions.
Count me in for $50M
The mission completed several historic firsts, including the:
- First all-civilian human spaceflight to orbit
- First black female spacecraft pilot
- Youngest American in space
- First person to fly to space with a prosthetic
- Farthest flight for a human spaceflight since the Hubble missions
- First time SpaceX has operated three Dragons in space
- First free-flight of a Dragon spacecraft on a human spaceflight mission
- Largest contiguous window ever flown in space
- First splashdown of a Dragon crew in the Atlantic Ocean
- First thrice-flown Falcon 9 booster to launch a human spaceflight mission
Finally, true to the mission’s name and purpose, Inspiration4 raised over $200M dollars (and counting) for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital--boosted by the Friday promise of another $50M by SpaceX's Elon Musk.
More News
A Puff Of Smoke Came Out From The Top Of The Engine Cowling Followed By A Total Loss Of Engine Power On May 9, 2025, about 1020 mountain daylight time, an experimental amateur-buil>[...]
From 2022 (YouTube Edition): Jenny, I’ve Got Your Number... Among the magnificent antique aircraft on display at EAA’s AirVenture 2022 was a 1918 Curtiss Jenny painstak>[...]
Very High Frequency (VHF) The frequency band between 30 and 300 MHz. Portions of this band, 108 to 118 MHz, are used for certain NAVAIDs; 118 to 136 MHz are used for civil air/grou>[...]
“From approximately November 2021 through January 2022, Britton-Harr, acting on behalf of AeroVanti, entered into lease-purchase agreements for five Piaggio-manufactured airc>[...]
From 2008 (YouTube Edition): US Fish and Wildlife Service Chooses The Kodiak To Monitor Waterfowl Populations Waterfowl all over North America may soon have to get used to a new ab>[...]
NTSB Prelim: Lee Aviation LLC JA30 SuperStol
See All