SpaceX has, once again, made history.
On Wednesday night, the aerospace manufacturer successfully launched its Inspiration4 mission, marking the first time an all-civilian space crew made it into orbit. The crew of “amateur astronauts” is made up of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital physician assistant Hayley Arceneaux, geoscientist Sian Proctor, data engineer Chris Sembroski, and billionaire businessman Jared Isaacman, who serves as the mission’s commander.
The four civilians will spend the next three days aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft, which will circle the Earth at an altitude of 357 miles. According to The Guardian, Isaacman bankrolled the entire mission with an undisclosed sum and convinced the Elon Musk-founded company to take the spacecraft about 150 miles higher than the International Space Station.
“Now I just wish we pushed them to go higher,” Isaacman told reporters on Tuesday. “If we’re going to go to the moon again and we’re going to go to Mars and beyond, then we’ve got to get a little outside of our comfort zone and take the next step in that direction.”
The crew has reportedly spent the past six months preparing for the flight, undergoing intensive training that included simulation and medical testing as well as “observations of other SpaceX launch operations.”
The crew is expected to reenter Earth’s atmosphere and splashdown into the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday. The mission will also help raise funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
