18.09.2021
The first pictures have been released showing the Inspiration4 crew high above the Earth.
The four private fliers are pictured floating around inside their space capsule and looking out the vehicle's big domed window at the planet below.
Billionaire Jared Isaacman and his colleagues Hayley Arceneaux, Sian Proctor and Chris Sembroski launched from Florida on Wednesday.
They're the first all-amateur crew to go into orbit on a commercial mission.
Their trip was purchased from, and is organised by, tech entrepreneur Elon Musk's SpaceX rocket company.
The crew have gone much higher than the International Space Station
The California-based firm used one of its Dragon ships to lift the foursome to an altitude as high as 590km. That's about 160km further than the International Space Station, and 50km higher even than the famous Hubble Space Telescope.
Not much information has been released since launch about the activities of the crew, who are the subject of an exclusive Netflix documentary.
It's known that they are well, having adjusted to their weightless environment, and have been conducting some scientific experiments.
It's also known that they have been in conversation with family and friends on Earth, and have conducted a Q&A with patients at St Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
Ms Arceneaux is a physician assistant (known as a physician associate in the UK) at the hospital, having also been treated there as a 10 year-old for bone cancer.
Mr Isaacman hopes the interest around the Inspiration4 flight can help raise $200m for St Jude.
The crew are due back on Earth at the weekend. Their capsule will bring them to a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean.
It will have been another milestone in the space tourism market, which is experiencing a resurgence after a decade's hiatus.
Earlier this summer, billionaire businessmen Sir Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos went above Earth's atmosphere in their own space vehicles.
The coming months will see similar trips.
Artwork: A glass dome has been fitted to the Dragon capsule
Quelle: BBC
+++
Inspiration4 'space puppy' doubles as zero-g indicator and fundraiser
As the second stage engine of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket cut off, Hayley Arceneaux reached into a pouch strapped to her leg and pulled out a plush doll.
She then let it go.
The toy, attached to a tether, began to float above Arceneaux's head and in doing so, fulfilled its purpose as the Inspiration4 mission's "zero-g indicator." Hanging in the air, it provided a visual signal to Arceneaux and her three crewmates that they were now in the microgravity environment of outer space.
"We can see the zero-g indicator floating around," Andy Tran, a SpaceX quality engineer, said on the live webcast of the launch on Wednesday (Sept. 15).
"And it looks like it is a little golden retriever," senior certification engineer Kate Tice said.
"Like the golden retriever assistance dogs at St. Jude's Children's [Research] Hospital. That is apropos," Jessie Anderson, a SpaceX production and engineer manager, chimed in.
Almost simultaneously back down on Earth, St. Jude's launched the plush puppy's secondary mission — to inspire people to give.
"Inspiration4 has reached zero gravity and unleashed their zero gravity indicator!" the hospital announced on Twitter. "Check out our gift shop to get your own space buddy dog plush."
Underwritten by billionaire and mission commander Jared Isaacman, Inspiration4 aims to be St. Jude's largest fundraiser, bringing in $200 million to advance pediatric cancer research. Isaacman donated the first $100 million and has used the spaceflight — with its "all-civilian" crew, including medical officer Arceneaux, a cancer survivor and physician's assistant at St. Jude's — to encourage the public to donate, too.
The tradition of flying zero-g indicators began in Russia, inspired by the world's first person to fly into space. Yuri Gagarin carried a small doll with him on his Vostok 1 mission in 1961. Later cosmonauts launched with stuffed toys, often at the choice of their children, and hung them from their spacecraft control panels.
SpaceX adopted the custom with its first flight of a Crew Dragon capsule to the International Space Station. Past SpaceX zero-g indicators have included a Celestial Buddies' plush Earth, a Ty sequined dinosaur named "Tremor," a Star Wars Grogu (or "baby Yoda") and a Jellycat "My First Penguin" named by its crew "GuinGuin."
The Inspiration4 zero-g indicator may be the first in history, though, to be used to raise funds for a cause.
"Celebrate the first all-civilian mission to space with this adorable replica," St. Jude's wrote on its gift shop's listing for the Inspiration4 zero gravity indicator replica. "Lovingly named Jude, this plush is wearing its St. Jude space suit and is ready to take your imagination to the stars."
The "extra-soft plush" was modeled after the hospital's facility dogs, Puggle and Huckleberry. Since September 2019, the two specially-trained golden retrievers have worked with St. Jude patients to "help them meet clinical goals, easing fears and calming patients during challenging situations."
Sales of the 15-inch (38-cm) Gund doll support St. Jude's life-saving research and care. The replica space puppies cost $24 each.
Within three hours of the Inspiration4 launch, the first batch of dolls were sold out.
"Due to an amazing response to the Inspiration4 launch, we are currently sold out of the Inspiration4 Zero Gravity Indicator Replica Space Puppy. More are on the way Sept. 27th!" St. Jude's gift shop posted to its website.
The Inspiration4 crew, including Isaacman, Arceneaux, pilot Sian Proctor and mission specialist Chris Sembroski, packed their SpaceX Dragon with memorabiliato auction for St. Jude's. The mission will orbit Earth for the next three days and then return to a splashdown off the coast of Florida.
"Jude," the Inspiration4 zero-g indicator space puppy is dressed in a St. Jude white spacesuit with silverly helmet. (St. Jude)
Quelle: CS
+++
SpaceX shows off largest window in space after spectacular Inspiration4 launch
SpaceX has revealed the first on-orbit view of the largest window every launched on a rocket – and provided an update on the status of its first private astronauts – after Wednesday night’s spectacular Inspiration4 launch.
Around 8:03 pm EDT on September 15th (00:03 UTC 16 Sept), Falcon 9 successfully lifted off from Kennedy Space Center, sending four private astronauts – the world’s first all-private crew on an orbital spacecraft – into low Earth orbit (LEO). In the 18 hours since, now twice-flown Crew Dragon spacecraft Resilience has successfully boosted its orbit from around 200 km (~120 mi) to around 580-590 km (360-365 mi) – the highest altitude ever reached by private astronauts and highest any human has traveled in approximately two decades (19 or 22 years).
Now safely in orbit on what’s expected to be a three-day journey in space, SpaceX also reports that Inspiration4 commander Jared Isaacman, pilot Sian Proctor, medical officer Haley Arceneaux, and specialist Christopher Sembroski are all “healthy, happy, and resting comfortably.” As early as this afternoon, the four private astronauts will wake up and potentially experience Crew Dragon’s cupola – the largest window by surface area ever flown to space or orbit – for the first time.
Following a spectacular post-sunset launch and a nearly five-hour webcast covering it, many have noted that SpaceX and Inspiration4 have practically gone silent after reaching orbit and that unlike Crew Dragon’s past three NASA astronaut launches, there has been no live coverage – and virtually no news at all – of the in-space cruise phase. It’s quite possible that one, several, or all of the four Inspiration4 crew members – all spaceflight rookies – are experiencing the common and uncomfortable “space adaptation syndrome,” referring to extreme nausea and discomfort as many as two-thirds of astronauts experience during their first hours or even days in microgravity.
If that’s the case, it would be no surprise that the crew might want privacy for the first 12-24+ hours and more generally to simply enjoy being in orbit – and higher than all but a few dozen humans have ever traveled – with some degree of peace. A great deal of photos and videos are still expected – but as part of Netflix’s Countdown documentary and only after the crew returns to Earth, rather than the live, immediate coverage SpaceX’s other Crew Dragon missions have had.
With another two days left in orbit, the Inspiration4 crew are scheduled to perform a few relatively minor experiments – mostly focused on health – but are mostly expected to simply enjoy being in space. Once they wake up and are able to open Dragon’s forward bulkhead hatch, they’ll get to experience the first-ever views out of the spacecraft’s cupola. A camera inside the nosecone cover will allow them to take some truly unique self-portraits with Earth, space, and even the Milky Way as backdrops – only really comparable to the occasional self-portraits taken by astronauts during spacewalks.
With any luck, SpaceX or Inspiration4 will share a few of those special photos later today. Barring on-the-fly changes, the four private astronauts are scheduled to return to Earth on Saturday evening. Stay tuned for further updates on the historic mission.
Inspiration4 launches into orbit. (Richard Angle)
Quelle: TESLARATI
+++
Fotos von Start exklusiv aus den USA für CENAP:
Fotos: ©Paul Garfinkel
----
Update: 19.09.2021
.
SpaceX's private Inspiration4 astronauts will return to Earth tonight and you can watch it live
Splashdown is set for 7:06 p.m. EDT (2306 GMT).
After three days in space, SpaceX's first all-civilian crew will return to Earth tonight with a splashdown off the Florida coast to end a mission like no other in history.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience is scheduled to splash down in the Atlantic Ocean near Florida tonight (Sept. 18) to end the Inspiration4 mission, a private spaceflight financed by a billionaire that launched four civilians into orbit earlier this week. Splashdown is targeted for 7:06 p.m. EDT (2306 GMT).
You can watch SpaceX's Inspiration4 splashdown in the window above, courtesy of SpaceX, beginning at 6 p.m. EDT (2200 GMT). You can also watch it directly from SpaceX here and on Youtube.
"We know how fortunate we are to be up here," Inspiration4 commander Jared Isaacman said during a live video broadcast to Earth on Friday (Sept. 17). "We're giving all of our time right now to science research, and some ukulele playing, and trying to raise some good awareness for an important cause for us back on Earth."
Isaacman, a 37-year-old tech entrepreneur and founder of Shift4Payments, bought the Inspiration4 trip with SpaceX to fulfill a lifelong dream of flying in space. But he's also been using the flight to raise $200 million to support childhood cancer research and treatment for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. To that end, he donated the other three seats on the flight to raise funds as well as $100 million of his own funds to the cause.
One seat went to childhood cancer survivor Hayley Arceneaux, 29, who now works as a physician's assistant at St. Jude. She's been the medical officer of the flight and is now the youngest American ever to fly in space, as well as the first with a prosthetic in her leg. The other two seats went to geoscientist Sian Proctor, 51, of Arizona (the mission's pilot) and data engineer Chris Sembroski, 42, (mission specialist and ukulele player), as part of online contests to raise funds.
"I just want you all to know that we're doing this for you," Arceneaux told St. Jude patients during the flight in a video call. "We are thinking about you so much, I wanted to tell you that I was a little girl going through cancer treatment, just like a lot of you. If I can do this, you can do this, and I'm so proud of each and every one of you."
The Inspiration4 astronauts launched into orbit on a Falcon 9 rocket, lifting off from Pad 39A of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the same pad used for the Apollo moon missions, space shuttle flights and SpaceX's Crew Dragon trips carrying NASA astronauts. Both the Falcon 9 and its Crew Dragon Resilience had flown before. The private spaceflyers received months of training for the mission and wore the same type of sleek white flight suits used by professional astronauts.
Unlike past SpaceX crewed missions, all of which flew to the International Space Station for NASA, Inspiration4 flew on its own on a flight path that took it higher than the station and any other SpaceX Dragon flight to date, about 363 miles (585 kilometers) above Earth.
Since Inspiration4 was not headed to the International Space Station, SpaceX replaced its docking port at the nose with a giant dome window, a cupola that is the biggest single window ever to fly in space.
"We have been spending so much time in this cupola," Arceneaux said in Friday's live video. "We can put our heads in and fit multiple crewmembers and see the entire perimeter of Earth. And the views, I have to say, are out of this world."
The Inspiration4 crew also performed a series of experiments to study the human body in space and are carrying a number of items, like the ukulele Sembroski played and artwork made by Proctor, that will be auctioned off laterto raise more finds for St. Jude.
They also rang the closing bell on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday and Isaacman placed the first bet from space (he picked the Philadelphia Eagles to win the next Super Bowl) as part of the mission. The civilian astronauts dined on cold pizza, pasta Bolognese, roasted edamame, Mediterranean lamb, Skittles, M&Ms and peanut butter cups among their other food choices.
While the mission has been a thrill for all four crewmembers, Isaacman stressed that he hopes their flight will inspire others to pursue their own dreams on Earth and in space.
"So big part of our mission here at Inspiration4 is to inspire what can be done here in space, and there's an awful lot of it and we got to get out and explore it," Isaacman said. "But also, we have our responsibilities that we need to take care of back on Earth and top on our list right now is conquering childhood cancer. That's why we're supporting St. Jude's."
Quelle: SC