Photo: Inspiration4
As of this week, humankind has stepped into a new age of space exploration. One that no longer requires people to train for years, or follow military careers just to get a shot at being granted astronaut badges. All that is required now are enough courage, and a combination between wealth and philanthropy.
A couple of days ago, SpaceX joined the select group of private companies to send people with no specific astronaut training into space in exchange for money. But with one major difference.
Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin have both beaten SpaceX in becoming the first companies to send civilians up there, with each of their respective CEOs, Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos, able to boast about having made the trip to space as well.
But did they?
Sure, both the VSS Unity and the New Shepard have taken people over the artificially agreed upon limit to space, the Karman line (62 miles/100 km), but barely. And both ships spent up there just a few minutes, as these launches have been something of a “what goes up must quickly come down" affair.
Crews on both flights have been incredibly happy about the experience, of course, and that’s visible in the contorted grins on their faces as they flew around in zero-G.
But now take a look at the faces of these guys, the crew of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, or the Inspiration4 team. They have been grinning for two days now, as their ship circles the planet from five times the distance to the Karman line, and past the orbit the International Space Station takes around the Earth.
Now that the all-civilian crew (Jared Isaacman, Hayley Arceneaux, Chris Sembroski, Sian Proctor, and no Elon Musk) has gotten used to space, they just won’t stop sending back photos of their adventure.
We don’t call them photos, though, but a case study of the effects of space on civilian travelers. Enjoy!
Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin have both beaten SpaceX in becoming the first companies to send civilians up there, with each of their respective CEOs, Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos, able to boast about having made the trip to space as well.
But did they?
Sure, both the VSS Unity and the New Shepard have taken people over the artificially agreed upon limit to space, the Karman line (62 miles/100 km), but barely. And both ships spent up there just a few minutes, as these launches have been something of a “what goes up must quickly come down" affair.
Crews on both flights have been incredibly happy about the experience, of course, and that’s visible in the contorted grins on their faces as they flew around in zero-G.
But now take a look at the faces of these guys, the crew of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, or the Inspiration4 team. They have been grinning for two days now, as their ship circles the planet from five times the distance to the Karman line, and past the orbit the International Space Station takes around the Earth.
Now that the all-civilian crew (Jared Isaacman, Hayley Arceneaux, Chris Sembroski, Sian Proctor, and no Elon Musk) has gotten used to space, they just won’t stop sending back photos of their adventure.
We don’t call them photos, though, but a case study of the effects of space on civilian travelers. Enjoy!
The crew of #Inspiration4 had an incredible first day in space! They’ve completed more than 15 orbits around planet Earth since liftoff and made full use of the Dragon cupola. pic.twitter.com/StK4BTWSA6
— Inspiration4 (@inspiration4x) September 17, 2021
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