Four American space tourists spent their first day in Earth’s orbit aboard a SpaceX craft, conducting scientific experiments and speaking with cancer patients at a hospital after launching from Cape Canaveral on Thursday. Children at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital were able to talk to the "Inspiration4" crew and asked them a question that is on everyone’s mind: "Are there cows on the moon?", as the hospital wrote in a tweet. "Inspiration4" is the first space mission with crew members who are ordinary citizens rather than experienced astronauts.
SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, stated that the crew "has orbited the Earth five and a half times, conducted their first series of scientific research, and had some meals" before going to sleep. Musk also tweeted that he spoke with the crew members and "everything is going well." They will now move to the large glass dome of the Dragon capsule, designed to provide a 360-degree view for the passengers. This dome replaces the system usually used for docking with the International Space Station (ISS).
The crew members, all amateurs, are orbiting Earth at an altitude of 590 kilometers. The "Inspiration4" mission is operating at a higher altitude than the ISS, which orbits approximately 400 kilometers above Earth, and is the first to venture this far into space since the Hubble Space Telescope repair mission in 2009. The mission aims to raise $200 million for St. Jude’s Hospital and study the effects of space on a crew that does not include professional astronauts.
The flight includes billionaire Jared Isaacman, medical assistant Hayley Arceneaux, aerospace engineer Chris Sembroski, and science educator Sian Proctor. The flight aims especially to demonstrate that space travel has become feasible for many people, although it remains limited to the wealthiest, as the United States and private companies like SpaceX bet on space tourism. Musk tweeted that missions like "Inspiration4" help advance space travel and allow everyone to head into orbit and even further.
With this mission, a new record has been set, as there are currently 14 people in space. The ISS hosted 13 people in 2009. Currently, the ISS includes seven astronauts, while the Shenzhou-12 spacecraft is returning three Chinese astronauts to Earth after they spent 90 days aboard the Tiangong station.
The SpaceX mission concludes a summer that saw two flights surpass the boundaries of space, the first carrying British billionaire Richard Branson on July 11 in the "Virgin Galactic" vehicle, followed days later by American billionaire Jeff Bezos through his company "Blue Origin." However, these two flights lasted only a few minutes in zero gravity, compared to the three full days for the SpaceX tourists, who will land on a sea platform off the west coast of Florida on Saturday.
