On the night from Wednesday to Thursday, SpaceX will put four ‘ordinary people’ into orbit. A first.

The first fully civilian-manned orbital spaceflight was announced by SpaceX in February, promising it would take place before the end of this year. And SpaceX keeps that promise. This week, four space tourists board the Crew Dragon spacecraft to be launched into space by a Falcon 9 rocket and do multiple orbits around our beautiful planet.

The crew

The lucky four are Jared Isaacman, Chris Sembroski, Haley Arceneau and Sian Proctor. The wealthy businessman Isaacman has bought all four seats and reserved one for himself. The second and third seats were raffled respectively among people who donated money to St. Jude (a hospital in Memphis) and employees of the same hospital. And the fourth seat was for the winner of a competition organized by Isaacman’s company.

Final rehearsal

The crew of the so-called Inspiration4 mission came to the Kennedy Space Center to Florida. The final preparations for the historic flight are currently being made there. For example, a dress rehearsal of the launch took place this morning. The aspiring astronauts went through all the activities preceding the launch.

Thursday

The actual launch is currently scheduled for Thursday, September 16 at 02:02 AM (Dutch time). Based on the weather forecast, the chance that the launch will actually take place is estimated at 70 percent, SpaceX announced this morning. If the weather or technical problems still throw a spanner in the works, it is also possible to launch a day later.

It is not the first time this year that ordinary citizens are looking for space. For example, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic made a fully manned suborbital flight to an altitude of 80 kilometers in July. And not much later, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin followed: four passengers – including a Dutchman – flew to an altitude of just over 100 kilometers. The latter flight entered the record books as the first-ever fully civilian suborbital spaceflight. These suborbital flights are clearly distinct from the orbital Inspiration4 flight. For example, the Inspiration4 flight will fly to an altitude of almost 600 kilometers and circle the earth several times before landing. During the flights of Virgin Galactic and Blue Origins, after reaching an altitude of 80 and 100 kilometers respectively, the return to Earth was started again and so no trip around the Earth was made.

Three days

For Crew Dragon’s four-person crew, it’s sure to be an adventure they won’t soon forget. After reaching an altitude of about 590 kilometers, the spacecraft races through space at more than 25,000 kilometers per hour. The crew is weightless at the time and has a spectacular view of our planet. But whoever thinks that the four can marvel at that view during the entire flight is wrong. During the flight – which will last about three days – the crew will also conduct several experiments.

Trained citizens

What makes this flight so special, of course, is the fact that it is fully manned by civilians and there are no years of trained astronauts on board. However, those citizens do not, of course, step into it completely blank. They have also been trained in recent months and have learned, among other things, how their spacesuit works, what to do in an emergency and how to work with limited gravity. They also participated in mission simulations.

Autonomous

In addition, they also received the necessary explanation about Crew Dragon. The spacecraft basically flies autonomously. But everything is overseen by Proctor and Isaacman. Proctor has a pilot’s license. And Isaacman – founder of the world’s largest private air force – is a fighter jet pilot and has the necessary credentials to fly both commercial and military aircraft. Should something go wrong, Proctor and Isaacman can take control of Crew Dragon.

Splash

As it stands, the first fully civilian-manned orbital spaceflight will take about three days. As the Inspiration4 mission nears its end, Crew Dragon will initiate the return to Earth. After being severely slowed down by the atmosphere and parachutes, the spacecraft should land with a splash off the coast of Florida. There, the four are then picked up by boats within an hour.

With the Inspiration4 mission, SpaceX wants to make history again. At the same time, the mission is also the prelude to more. In 2023, the space company aims to undertake the first fully civilian-manned mission to the moon. During this mission – dubbed dearMoon – nine people will orbit our natural satellite.