SpaceX sends the first space tourists into space on September 15th
Falcon-9 and Crew Dragon are ready. Four civilians are scheduled to launch into space on September 15th. The head of the crew is billionaire Jared Isaacman, who also pays all three other seats. Elon Musk won’t be there.
The private mission of billionaire and accomplished aviation pilot Jared Isaacman, founder and CEO of the payment provider “Shift4 Payments”, is in place. After sponsoring the other three seats, Isaacman was not only able to name the mission, but also to ensure that people he thought would be suitable will be included in the flight. In doing so, he seems to have specifically selected people who have useful skills or experience in space travel but had to apply through a competition.
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Most of the participants have experience in space travel
With Hayley Arceneaux he takes a medical assistant on board. Chris Sembroski works for the aerospace company Lockheed Martin and has performed simulated space shuttle missions. Geoscientist Dr. Sian Proctor, whose father was involved in the Apollo mission.
The mission goes by the name “Inspiration 4” and will launch from NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center in the US state of Florida. Mission Commander is Isaacman, Mission Pilot is Dr. Sian Proctor, Hayley Arceneaux will be on board as Medical Officer and Chris Sembroski as Mission Specialist.
The regular start of the mission is scheduled for September 15, 2021 at 2 p.m. Central European Time. If there are any difficulties, the fixed alternative date is September 16 from the same time. The specific times can still change up to three days before the date.
The crew members have been at SpaceX headquarters in California since Thursday, where they will complete three-day astronaut training. Unlike the excursions of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Virgin billionaire Richard Branson, the excursion of the Inspiration 4 crew will not include just a few minutes in space. Rather, the Crew Dragon is supposed to stay in space for three days.
Will space tourists become recognized astronauts?
That could be enough to get you the coveted recognition as an astronaut along with the matching wing patch. That is not clear, however, because – unlike before the start of Bezos and Branson – it is no longer enough to just cross the threshold to space, which, according to the prevailing opinion, begins at an altitude of 100 kilometers. The US aviation authority FAA had obviously changed the rules in good time before the excursions of the two billionaires in order not to have to grant them the coveted astronaut wings.
According to the new regulations, the crew must now also “have undertaken activities that were indispensable for public safety or that contributed to the safety of manned spaceflight”.
