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SpaceX to launch first civilian orbital mission aboard Dragon spacecraft in Q4FY21

Astronaut training for the Inspiration4’s crew will be conducted by SpaceX on its Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft

February 02, 2021 / 12:00 IST
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon spacecraft launches from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral. The unmanned Falcon rocket blasted off with a just-in-time-for-Christmas delivery for the International Space Station. The first-stage booster took flight again after a six-month turnaround. On board was a Dragon supply ship, also a second-time flier. It's NASA's first use of a reused Falcon and only the second of a previously flown capsule. (Representative Image: PTI)

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has said it will launch four private individuals into Earth’s orbit on its Crew Dragon capsule in “the world’s first all civilian astronaut mission” called ‘Inspiration4’ in Q4FY21.

The company on February 1 said that the mission which will be commanded by Founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments Jared Isaacman, who is also a trained pilot, will raise support for St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, ANI reported.

Isaacman is “donating three seats alongside him aboard the Dragon” for people from the general public – names of whom will be announced in the coming weeks, as per a statement.

Astronaut training for the Inspiration4’s crew will be conducted by SpaceX on its Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft. The training will include zero gravity, stress testing, operating in microgravity, and orbital mechanics, it added.

The multi-day trip will be “carefully monitored by mission control” and will orbit the planet every 90 minutes in a customised flight path, it said. On concluding mission, the spacecraft will go for soft water landing off the Florida coast.

Moneycontrol News
first published: Feb 2, 2021 12:00 pm

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