SpaceX launches Inspiration4 flight of civilian crew after 6-month training

Four amateur astronauts have created history when launched their own journey to space from Florida. Those astronauts known as Inspiration4 crew includes a billionaire and three other people, took out from Kennedy Space Center in a Dragon spacecraft provided by Elon Mask's SpaceX. These four passengers will go into low earth orbit (LEO) on their most recent voyage to space, travelling far higher altitude than billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos's earlier trips to space. 

The Inspiration4 crew will be orbiting the Earth for the next three days. This mission has moved another step forward in the space tourism industry, which is reviving after a break of 10 years. Jared Issacman, Hayley Arceneaux, Sian Proctor, and Chris Sembroski, the Inspiration4 astronauts, have completed six months of intense preparation with SpaceX. Yet, their Dragon spacecraft will be controlled by onboard computer systems, which will be monitored by SpaceX specialists from the base. 

Though the Dragon spacecraft will not approach near the International Space Station, its goal is to reach an altitude of 575 kilometres on a 'free flight'. This is nearly 150 kilometres above the orbiting laboratory, and almost the same altitude range as the view of a Hubble Space Telescope.  

Even though these astronauts don't have any specific destination, still they have enough to do. As per BBC, they have started conducting scientific researches within their Dragon space shuttle. SpaceX has further upgraded their makeshift house to include a large window from which the crew will undoubtedly gaze out at the Earth beneath. 

More on the Inspiration4 astronauts

The expedition will be led by Jared Isaacman, the CEO and Founder of Shift4 Payments. Isaacman informed the BBC that whenever this expedition will finish, people will look back and comment this as the first-ever trip when ordinary people were able to go to space. 

In addition to Isaacman, the space shuttle will carry Hayley Arceneaux, a 29-year-old medical assistant at St Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee; Dr. Sian Proctor, 51, geoscientist and science communicator; and Chris Sembroski who is a US Air Force military man and engineer at Lockheed Martin. The Inspiration4 crew hopes to increase a sum of $200 million for St Jude Children's Research Hospital, for children's cancer charity, through this expedition.  

As per CNBC TV18, The Dragon spacecraft manufactured by SpaceX is built on top of the Falcon-9 rocket. The vehicle is known as Resilience launched from the iconic Kennedy Space Center in Florida, that served as the launching pad for Apollo 11's moon mission. The aircraft can accommodate up to seven passengers and is the first commercial spacecraft to have an orbital flight. 

(Image: AP)