Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX company has announced its intention to launch its first fully civilian mission into space by the end of the year, a milestone in private space tourism.
Aboard the Dragon spacecraft, four crew members will travel into space under the leadership of Jared Isaacman, founder and CEO of the company Shift Payments in the mission known as Inspiration4, SpaceX has reported.In previous trips, civilians who have paid for the experience have already visited space, but always together with astronauts trained by the US space agency, NASA, or with Russian cosmonauts.
EMERGENCY TRAINING
This will be the first space flight of a crew made up entirely of civilians who will have to receive, of course, training by SpaceX and undergo different tests: from emergencies to orbital mechanics, response to microgravity, zero gravity, exercises entry and exit of spaceships and spacesuits, as well as partial and full mission simulations. It is the materialization of a dream, a step towards a future in which anyone can venture outside and explore the stars,” Isaacman stressed. Anyone, of course, who has millions of dollars to pay, although SpaceX has not yet revealed the price of the trip.
The lucky four will travel aboard Dragon, capable of carrying up to seven passengers to and from Earth orbit and beyond. Also, it is the first private spacecraft to bring humans to the space station. The mission will lift off from the historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The trip will last several days and will carry out a personalized flight route around the Earth, being monitored at each step by SpaceX control. Upon completion of the mission, Dragon will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere for soft water landing off the coast of Florida.
