On the calm and clear evening of Sept. 15, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Inspiration4 mission into history. It represented the first all-civilian orbital mission, with the crew spending approximately three days in low Earth orbit (LEO).
The mission served a dual purpose; blazing a trail for civilian space travel and raising funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The monetary goal was set for $200 million, but they have since surpassed this. The amount raised now totals more than $220 million.
The Inspiration4 crew was led by Shift4 Payments CEO Jared Isaacman. Joining Isaacman was physician assistant and childhood cancer survivor Hayley Arcenaux, geoscientist Chris Sembroski, and science specialist Sian Proctor. Each member of the crew represents a pillar for the mission: leadership, hope, generosity and prosperity.
The booster landed on the new drone ship, “A Short Fall of Gravitas.” The capsule carrying the four newly-decorated astronauts splashed down off the coast of Florida on the evening of Sept. 18. We attempted to capture photos of reentry, yet clouds obscured our view. However, we were treated with a thundering sonic boom!
We encourage you to watch the beautifully-orchestrated Netflix documentary Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space, which chronicles the crew’s journey from training to launch to landing. There is also some jaw-dropping footage of the launch in the final episode.
Follow along with us next month as we cover ULA’s Lucy mission and SpaceX/NASA’s Crew-3!
