Four people – none of them trained astronauts – were just launched into orbit
aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule on Sept. 15, 2021. Part of the SpaceX Inspiration4 mission, Dragon’s
first all-civilian 3-day human spaceflight blasted four civilians with minimal training into orbit,
bringing space tourism closer to reality. Organized and funded by entrepreneur Jared
Isaacman, the Inspiration4 mission touts itself as “the first all-civilian mission to orbit”
and heralds a new type of space tourism. The four crew members aren’t the first space
tourists this year. In the past few months, we have seen billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff
Bezos launch themselves, along with a lucky few others, into space, on brief suborbital trips.
While there are similarities between those launches and Inspiration4 — the mission is
being paid for by one billionaire and is using a rocket built by another billionaire, Elon Musk, —
the differences are worth underscoring. Another unique aspect of the mission is that
one of its goals is to raise awareness of, and funds for, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
The fact that Inspiration4 will send regular people into orbit for
three days, makes it a milestone in space tourism. The four crew members of the Inspiration4 mission
include a physician assistant, a data engineer, a geoscientist and billionaire Jared Isaacman.
This is a diverse group of people. One crew member, Sian Proctor, won a contest
run by Isaacman’s online payment company. Isaacman selected Hayley Arceneaux, a physician’s assistant
at St. Jude, and childhood cancer survivor, to participate in the launch. The final member,
Christopher Sembroski, won his seat when his friend was chosen in a charity raffle
for St. Jude and offered his seat to Sembroski. Now lets look at why Inspiration4 is different.
The biggest difference between Inspiration4 and the flights
performed earlier this year is the destination. Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic took – and in
the future, will take – their passengers on suborbital launches. Their vehicles only go high
enough to reach the beginning of space before returning to the ground a few minutes later.
On the other hand, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and crew Dragon vehicle will take the Inspiration4
crew all the way into orbit, where they will orbit the Earth for three days.
Because none of the four participants has any prior formal astronaut training,
the flight has been called the first “all civilian” space mission.
The rocket and crew capsule are both fully automated. No one on board
will be required to control any part of the launch or landing. Yet, the four members still
needed to go through more rigorous training than the people on the suborbital flights.
Ove the past six months, the crew received hours of simulator training, lessons in flying a jet
aircraft and spent time in a centrifuge to prepare for the G-forces of launch.
Social outreach has also been another key aspect of the mission. While Bezos and Branson got a
lot of flak for pitching their flights as a race to space between billionaire playboys,
Inspiration4 has tried to make space tourism a bit more relatable.
The crew recently appeared on the cover of Time magazine and is the subject of
an ongoing Netflix documentary. The Inspiration4 mission is a step
towards giving more people access to space and breathtaking views of our plant, that are enjoyed
exclusively by the occupants of the International Space Station and the Chinese space station.
So what does this mean for the future of space tourism?
Sending a crew of civilians into orbit is a significant step in the evolution
of space tourism. However, despite the more inclusive feel of the mission,
there are still serious barriers to overcome before ordinary people can go to space.
For starters, the cost of space access remains quite steep. Though three of the four are not
rich, Isaacman is a billionaire who picked up the $200 million tab for the trip.
In fact, I raised the issue of affordability with Jared Isaanman on Twitter.
He directly responded to me with this explanation.
Then there’s the issue of space time. To train for a mission like this,
prospective passengers must be able to devote significant amounts of time to prepare – a luxury
most ordinary people can’t afford. Lastly, space remains a dangerous place,
and currently there is no way to fully eliminate the danger of launching people into space,
whether or not they’re untrained civilians or seasoned professional astronauts.
Be that as it may, orbital space tourism is coming. For SpaceX, Inspiration4 will serve
to further demonstrate the safety and reliability of their autonomous rocket and capsule systems.
In fact, SpaceX has several tourist missions planned over the next few months,
even though the company isn’t narrowly focused on space tourism.
Some of these upcoming flights will even include stops at the International Space Station.
No doubt space remains out of reach for most on Earth, but Inspiration4 is an example
of how billionaire space barons’ efforts to include more average people on their journeys
can give an otherwise exclusive activity a wider public appeal.
Here’s wishing the Inspiration4 crew and St Jude Children's Research Hospital all
the success in their noble cause. That’s a wrap. Thanks for watching!