SpaceX has done extraordinary things over the years, making a name for itself with several missions to study the universe. This September, they plan to make history again with a first-of-its-kind mission entirely made up of civilians. The four-person crew will be entering low Earth orbit for a 3-day duration. The targeted date for no later than September 15. The crew members chosen are geoscientist Dr. Sian Proctor who completed four previous NASA missions, former Air Force member Chris Sembroski who served as a space camp counselor working with Lockheed Martin and earned a degree in aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Another member is 29-year-old Hayley Arceneaux, a bone cancer survivor and former patient of St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. Hayley has a physician’s assistant degree and will also be the youngest person ever to travel to space. Hayley was chosen by St. Jude’s themselves to go on this civilian-only mission. The man behind this idea and the last member is Jared Isaacman, the billionaire CEO of Shift4 Payments. He will also serve as commander. Jared will give all money from this endeavor to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
Training for missions usually takes around two years, but for this Dragon crew, time is short. The training provided by NASA will be based on a NASA-approved curriculum. Given the mission only lasting three days, the team will not need to learn traditional spacewalks and station operations training. Isaacman plans to put the crew through their paces, testing them in isolated environments in close quarters. The mission will get to space using a retooled Falcon 9 rocket from past Dragon crew missions. With this mission being the first all civilian crew flight, it will set a record for history. None of the four people selected have past space experience but have worked with the government and other divisions. They will receive commercial-style training and be the first to complete a space mission with no government oversight. Isaacman could not be more thrilled partnering with SpaceX; with their past achievements, he knew that they were the right people for the job. For Hayley, being a part of this mission was a dream come true, and her family was happy to do anything to make it happen.
This mission is extraordinary because not only does it give ordinary people a fantastic opportunity, but it also gives hope to the many people fighting cancer. For more information, please visit Inspiration4’s website. If you would like to read more about this, please click here for an article about it from MSN.