SpaceX Inspiration4 All-Civilian Spaceflight Returns To Earth After 3 Days In Orbit And Many Firsts
The four astronauts of the Inspiration4 mission have returned to Earth, which marks the successful completion of the world's first all-civilian human spaceflight to orbit.
New Delhi: The four astronauts of the Inspiration4 mission flying aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon Resilience Spacecraft safely splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on Saturday September 18, at 7:06 pm EDT (4:36 am IST, Sunday).
The four amateur astronauts, Jared Isaacman, Hayley Arceneaux, Chris Sembroski and Dr Sian Proctor, had blasted off into space atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, from the historic launch complex, 39-A Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on September 15, at 8:02 pm EDT (5:32 am IST, Thursday), and their return marks a successful completion of the world's first all-civilian human spaceflight to orbit.
Upon splashdown, the spacecraft was hoisted onto the main deck of SpaceX's Go Searcher recovery vessel.
Teams on the recovery ship started securing the spacecraft, so that the Inspiration4 crew could egress the Dragon vehicle, according to a tweet by the official handle of Inspiration4 at 5:00 am IST.
After the side hatch was officially opened, the recovery teams put a kind of protection along the hatch door, so that the astronauts could safely egress the vehicle, according to a SpaceX broadcast.
At 5:20 am IST, SpaceX tweeted that the crew of Inspiration4 have returned to Earth.
The crew followed a proper procedure during egress, with the teams assisting them, as the astronauts had been in microgravity for the past three days. They had not felt the gravity of their own body in three days, which is why it is a standard procedure to have some assistance while they egress the vehicle.
The footrest of the bottom of their seats was removed first to give them space while exiting. The first crewmember to egress the vehicle was Chief Medical Officer Hayley Arceneaux, followed by Pilot Dr Sian Proctor and Mission Specialist Chris Sembroski. The commander of Inspiration4, Jared Isaacman, was the last to exit the vehicle.
After the egress was successful, the four astronauts were taken to the medical room on the recovery vessel, where they went through some medical checks to ensure they were safe and healthy, following which a helicopter flew them to Kennedy Space Center. 'Happy. Healthy. Home.', tweeted the official handle of Inspiration4 at 7:29 am IST.
Timeline of descent
The crew was suited up for return to Earth, by 1:55 am IST. By 3:01 am, Dragon entered its last orbit before reentry and splashdown. Dragon's trunk had been jettisoned a little before 3:42 am, and by 4:04 am, it completed its deorbit burn. The nosecone was closed for reentry by 4:10 am.
During atmospheric reentry, Crew Dragon's surface reaches temperatures of around 3500 degrees Fahrenheit, but the spacecraft's heat shield ensures that the interior temperature does not exceed 85 degrees Fahrenheit, according to SpaceX.
Crew Dragon deployed its four main parachutes by 4:34 am. At 4:36 am, the spacecraft splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean, completing world's first all-civilian orbital mission to Space.
“That was a heck of a ride for us, and we are just getting started,” Commander Jared Isaacman was quoted as saying.
Dr. Sian Proctor tweeted that this was the best ride of her life, and thanked SpaceX, Elon Musk and Inspiration4.
The historic firsts by Inspiration4
- First all-civilian human spaceflight to orbit
- First Black female spacecraft pilot
- Youngest American in space
- First person to fly to space with a prosthetic
- Farthest flight for a human spaceflight since the Hubble missions
- First time SpaceX has operated three Dragons in space
- First free-flight of a Dragon spacecraft on a human spaceflight mission
- Largest contiguous window ever flown in space
- First splashdown of a Dragon crew in the Atlantic Ocean
- First thrice-flown Falcon 9 booster to launch a human spaceflight mission
What did the crew do while in orbit?
Isaacman, also called Rook; Sembroski aka Hanks, Arceneaux aka Nova, and Proctor, aka Leo spoke to Tom Cruise while in orbit. They shared with him their experience from space. Interestingly, one of the crew members was inspired by Tom Cruise's Maverick from Top Gun.
The crew members listened to the songs, "You're The Inspiration" on Spotify, and "Beautiful Day" by U2. They also chatted with patients from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The crew even rang the stock market's closing bell.
The astronauts had a lot of fun while trying to catch their floating M&M's chocolate. They ate cold pizza in space, along with other food items on the menu, which included tea, coffee, sandwiches, veggie platter, Mediterranean lamb, meatballs and pasta, salami, pasta bolognese, tortillas, skittles, ginger chews, peanut butter cups, olives, granola bars, turkey, toaster pastries, apricot, chocolate peppermint sticks and rice crackers, among others.
They captured pictures of the spectacular view outside Dragon's Cupola, including views of orbital sunsets and orbital moonrise, moving at a speed almost 23 times the speed of sound. Mission Specialist Chris Sembroski captured some breathing pictures.
The mission has been able to raise nearly $154 million, which is about $50 million short of the intended goal of $200 million, for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
At 7:45 am, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted, 'Count me in for $50M’.
As gratitude for his gesture, St. Jude tweeted, 'Two missions accomplished in one night 👀', referencing the completion of the first all-civilian mission to orbit, and the fact that the intended amount of funds had been raised.
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