By
Chimamanda U. Martha
March 13th, 2024
It was disclosed that the SpaceX trip is not for the rich, but for the lucky.
The first private spaceflight (Dragon spacecraft) with an all-civilian crew to space will commence this year according to an announcement by SpaceX Exploration Technologies Corp. This Is a massive milestone in the nascent space tourism industry.
This mission is a memorable one as it will be the first time a crew made up of entirely private citizens with no professional astronaut at Nasa or from a government space agency cruises to space. It has been said that the crew members will undergo special training on how to control or handle orbital mechanics during the flight, and training in mission simulation for emergency preparedness organized by SpaceX.
SpaceX All-Civilian Crew
The mission will be engaged by a four-member crew with the founder and CEO of a payment processing company based in Pennsylvania, Shift4payments, Jared Isaacman leading the cruise. Isaacman has flown both a commercial and military aircraft as a trained pilot and will have a special reserved seat for a St. Jude employee.
Elon Musk, the CEO and founder of SpaceX, talking about the mission explained that it is important to have pioneers when launching a brand new mode of transportation.
“Things are expensive at first, and as you’re able to increase the launch rate, increase the production rate, refine the technology, it becomes less expensive and accessible to more people,” he added.
The flight is expected to take off around the fourth quarter of 2021.
The mission dubbed Inspiration4 will see the crew enjoying a journey into the orbits aboard SpaceX’s Dragon Spacecraft. According to reports, this will be launched from the Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The mission will see the Dragon Spacecraft circling the earth once every 90 minutes through a flight path said to be customized. Once the mission is over, the spacecraft will find its way back to land off the coast of Florida.
Details about the Dragon Spacecraft Crew
Isaacman in a separate interview disclosed that the space trip is not for the rich, but the lucky. It makes sense as two seats have been reserved for the St. Jude Children Research Hospital in Memphis. This hospital has over the years been developing cures for childhood cancer as well as treating children for free. One of the two seats has been reserved for a frontline healthcare worker who according to Isaacman was treated for cancer in the hospital and returned later as an employee.
In a bid to raise at least $200 million for the St. Jude Hospital, the other seat will be given out to a random person as revealed by Isaacman. The idea is to get a donation of up to 10,000 entries with each donation accounting for 10 entries for those who will want to stand a chance of winning the seat. An eligible person should be over 18 years and be a US citizen. The fourth seat would be given to an entrepreneur in a Shift4 contest.