Inspiration4 amateur astronauts make history
A four-crew mission of amateur space enthusiasts, named Inspiration4, has returned to Earth after three days in space.
They splashed down safely into the Atlantic Ocean on 18 September, 2021 and were picked up by SpaceX vessels.
They were aboard a 12,519 kg (27,600 lbs) capsule named Resilience, powered by a re-useable SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
At an altitude of 360 miles (575 kilometres), they orbited the Earth every 90 minutes at about 17,000 miles per hour (27,360 kph) for three days.
The lift-off was by 01:02 WAT, 16 September, 2021 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA.
The four crew members trained for just five months for this orbital trip and make history as the first all-civilian crew launched into Earth’s orbit.
They are: Jared Isaacman (38), a billionaire and licensed pilot and geoscientist Sian Proctor (51), also a licensed pilot.
Isaacman was Commander of the mission, while Proctor served as Pilot.
Hayley Arceneaux (29), a physician’s assistant, was Medical Officer; while Chris Sembroski (42), an aerospace data engineer, was Mission Specialist.
The mission was fully controlled from the ground station, making the crew members’ titles honourary.
Dr Sian Proctor is seen as the first black female “pilot” in a space mission.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama called to congratulate her and the team a day before the flight.
Arceneaux, 29, becomes the youngest American woman in space. Sally Ride, who was the first American woman in space at 32, held the earlier record with her historic mission in 1983.
On the crew’s return, they talked of the challenge of losing communications with the ground station for about 10% of the time and difficulty fixing the toilet fan in their capsule which malfunctioned, triggering an alarm, during the mission.
Toilets in spacecraft have fans that create suction to ensure that wastes go the right direction.
Urine reportedly, spilled onto fans and beneath the floor for some time in the SpaceX capsule.
The problem was discovered to be a detached urinary tube and was finally fixed following instructions from the ground station: a lesson on unforeseen challenges for future amateur spaceflights.
photo credit: inspiration4
