Inspiration-4: SpaceX launches first all- civilian crew into orbit!

SpaceX launched the Inspiration-4 mission with an all-civilian squad on Thursday from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. It was the first time a rocket is launched toward orbit with an all-amateur crew and with no professional astronauts.

The company’s first private mission to orbit was led by a 38-year-old entrepreneur, Jared Isaacman, who is bankrolling the entire trip. The crew also includes Hayley Arceneux, 29, a childhood cancer survivor and current St. Jude physician assistant; Sian Proctor, 51, a geologist and community college teacher with a PhD; and Chris Sembroski, a 42-year-old Lockheed Martin employee and lifelong space fan who claimed his seat through an online raffle.

The Dragon capsule’s two men and two women are looking to spend three days circling the world from an unusually high orbit — 100 miles (160 kilometres) higher than the International Space Station aiming for an altitude of 575 kilometres, just above the current position of the Hubble Space Telescope before splashing down off the Florida coast this weekend.

The tourists have every hour planned over the next three days in space. They’ll have time to talk to their families using NASA’s TDRS communications system and will also be conducting experiments.