Falcon 9
Live coverage: Inspiration4 crew gives update on their mission
Four private citizens strapped into a Crew Dragon spacecraft Wednesday for the ride of their lives. The Inspiration4 mission, the first all-private, non-government human spaceflight ever to travel into orbit, blasted off from Kennedy Space Center on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 8:02 p.m. EDT Wednesday (0002 GMT Thursday). The crew members gave a live update on their mission at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT) Friday.
All-civilian flight to orbit blazes new trail for charity with this week’s SpaceX launch
An all-civilian, non-astronaut crew, including a childhood cancer survivor, is ready for blastoff this week on a history-making SpaceX flight. Launch is scheduled for Wednesday evening for the first fully commercial, non-government flight to orbit, a charity-driven mission proponents say will open the door for “everyday people” to fly in space.
Civilian astronauts practice for launch day at Kennedy Space Center
The four civilian fliers who will rocket into orbit this week on the privately-managed Inspiration4 mission took their seats inside a SpaceX crew capsule Sunday night in Florida during a dress rehearsal for launch day. Hours later, once the crew members cleared the launch pad, SpaceX test-fired the Falcon 9 rocket set to launch the Inspiration4 mission.