SpaceX Sends 4 Tourists to Space for the 1st Time
4 people — none of whom are professional astronauts — took off into a capsule atop a 200-foot-tall SpaceX rocket that will blast them into space.
Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic was the first company to start international space travel for tourists. The 2nd was Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origins. Now SpaceX founded by Elon Musk has become the third company to start space tourism. On 15 September 2021, four people — none of whom are professional astronauts — went to space in SpaceX’s 200-foot-tall rocket. The rocket was travelling at a speed of 17,500 miles per hour. For the first time in history a spaceflight has been staffed entirely by tourists. The rocket is fully automatic and the 4 people have to do nothing. The rocket took off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The 4 people will stay on the rocket in space for 3 days and will be circling the earth’s orbit.
Each and every hour of their 3 days in space has been carefully planned. They will perform experiments, research and enjoy the view in space. For all three days in space, the passengers will all have to share one toilet. No showering will be available, and crew will all have to sleep in the same reclining seats they will ride in during launch. Now you may wonder who are the 4 people on the rocket.
The first person is Jared Isaacman, 38. He is a billionaire and founder of payment processing company Shift4. Isaacman is also personally paying for the entire mission. However he said how much he is paying for the mission. The other 3 people onboard the flight were either chosen personally by Isaacson or they were selected through competitions.
Their names are :
Hayley Arceneaux, a 29-year-old cancer survivor. She will be the chief medical officer on the flight. Arceneaux is the first person to go to space with a prosthesis, a titanium rod in her left leg. Sian Proctor, 51, was an ex-NASA astronaut candidate. The last person is Chris Sembroski aged 42 who was an ex-Air Force officer in the USA. The team has worked with SpaceX to train since February. SpaceX’s next trip is next year. In this rocket a retired NASA astronaut will escort three wealthy businessmen to space 1 full week. Russia’s Roscosmos is also sending Russian actress Yulia Peresild, 36, Director Klim Shipenko, 37-year-old and a Japanese tycoon to space in the next few months to shoot the first movie in space.
