Successful launch: Four civilians now orbiting the Earth

Inspiration 4The first civilian crew on an orbital mission, took off successfully from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 9:03 p.m. GMT using a reusable Falcon 9 rocket and a modified Dragon capsule, both from Elon Musk’s SpaceX. On board the billionaire ship Jared Askman, the project sponsor and beneficiary of St. Jude’s Hospital, in the US state of Tennessee, which is researching the treatment of childhood cancer. Isaacman is accompanied by three other civilians: the nurse Hayley Arsino, The engineer Chris Sembrowski and doctor of science Sian Proctor. Read more about the flight and the four crew members Here.

About nine minutes after liftoff, when the first stage of the Falcon 9 returned to Earth to land independently, the Dragon reached orbit. It will now travel at 28,000 kilometers per hour, at an altitude of nearly 600 kilometers, and circle the planet hundreds of times before completing its three-day journey, when it must descend into the Atlantic Ocean with the help of parachutes. Civilian adventurers will have a fantastic view of the universe and the terrestrial realm thanks to the dome that has been installed on the ship.

In space, the team will conduct medical and scientific experiments, while on Earth the fundraising campaign for St. Jude continues. Hayley, a hospital nurse, helps children recover from cancer, just as the foundation helped her when she contracted the disease when she was just 10 years old.