Just weeks from launch, SpaceX has started final preparations for the crewed Inspiration4 (I4) mission. I4 will be the first free flight Crew Dragon mission and the first orbital, all private crewed mission. I4 will also be the first worldwide crewed flight that will not dock with a space station since the final Hubble servicing mission on STS-125 in May 2009.
SpaceX is currently targeting the morning of September 15 to launch the flight-proven Crew Dragon Resilience (C207) atop a flight-proven Falcon 9 Block 5 (B1062-3) from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center.
Crew
The crew of Inspiration4 is one of a kind: the first orbital spaceflight with an all-civilian, all-private crew as well as the first all-rookie orbital US crew since STS-2 in November 1981. The goal of the mission is to raise millions of dollars for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and their pediatric cancer research and treatment programs.
Symbolizing Leadership, Jared Isaacman, founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, is the spacecraft commander for I4. Isaacman started Shift4 when he was 16 years old. In 2004, at the age of 21, he took flying lessons and became a pilot; after years of training, he is certified to fly commercial and military aircraft. He has set several world records and has conducted over 100 airshows.
Symbolizing Hope, Hayley Arceneaux, a Physician Assistant at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, will be the Chief Medical Officer for I4. A Louisiana native, she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a bone cancer, at age 10 and was treated at St. Jude. She now works at the hospital with leukemia and lymphoma patients. At 29 years old, she will become the youngest American to reach orbit.
The Inspiration4 crew in the Crew Access Arm at LC-39A. (From left: Isaacman, Dr. Proctor, Arceneaux, and Sembroski (Credit: Inspiration4)
Symbolizing Prosperity, Dr. Sian Proctor is a geoscientist, explorer, and science communication specialist. She will be the mission’s Pilot. Born in Hagåtña, Guam, Proctor received a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences from Edinboro University in Pennsylvania. She later attended Arizona State University, earning a Master’s in Geology and a Ph.D. in science education. Dr. Proctor is a geology professor at South Mountain Community College, where she also serves as the aerospace education officer for the Civil Air Patrol’s Arizona Wing.
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See Also
- Inspiration 4 Updates
- SpaceX Missions Section
- L2 SpaceX Section
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Symbolizing Generosity, Christopher Sembroski, a data engineer and US Air Force Veteran, will serve as Mission Specialist. Sembroski previously served as a counselor at Space Camp and volunteered for ProSpace, a non-profit that advocated the need for private spaceflight. After graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with a Bachelor of Science, he joined the US Air Force as an Electro-Mechanical Technician.
He now works as a data engineer for Lockheed Martin.
His seat on the mission was given to him by a friend, who transferred their win to Sembroski.
Training
The Inspiration4 crew has undergone a significant amount of training for the mission in a short period.
After 2 weeks on the road..w/ lots of training, sims, launch & splashdown observations, we closed off with @GoZeroG experience. Amazing- way better than I anticipated. Great time with @inspiration4x team along w/ friends & family. Plus flying in old school 727 was pretty cool.
pic.twitter.com/ivDM7LEgN5
— Jared Isaacman (@rookisaacman) July 13, 2021
The crew’s training began in March with centrifuge training and in July with Dragon simulations at Hawthorne, where Isaacman and Dr. Proctor learned how to control the spacecraft in the unlikely event they are required to take control during flight. The crew also started to familiarize themselves with the Dragon spacecraft, learning where mission supplies are stored and how to access items in case of emergency.
The crew observed launch operations of previous missions, including being on console during Transporter-2, and carefully watched the Crew-1 splashdown and recovery.
Additionally, the Inspiration4 team undertook zero-G plane training to familiarize themselves with the feeling of weightlessness and its immediate effects on them.
The crew then underwent altitude chamber training, where teams exposed them to low oxygen and high carbon dioxide environments to understand how their bodies would react in such an event. The crew and ground personnel will use that data to guide their decisions and procedures regarding what precautions to take in the unlikely event of loss of pressurization during the mission.
In the middle of July, the crew suited up for the first time in SpaceX spacesuits. The training suits were previously made, some for the Crew-1 mission, and were not the custom-tailored suits the crew will use during flight.
Jared Isaacman wearing his flight suit (Credit: Jared Isaacman)
The crew also began more academic work and additional simulations and conducted a significant number of medical tests. At the end of July, Isaacman was the first crew member to receive his flight suit.
At this time, the crew signed their names in the soot on their booster, B1062.
On August 9 and 10, they underwent G-force training on Mig-29, AlphaJets, and LC-39 aircraft. During this process, the crew received their call signs, with Isaacman as Rook, Arceneaux as Nova, Dr. Proctor as Leo, and Sembroski as Hanks.
On August 12, Isaacman announced that 32 kg of hops will fly on the mission. After splashdown, the hops will be auctioned to a brewery, with all funds donated to St. Jude.
Booster and Spacecraft
The booster supporting the Inspiration4 mission is B1062-3, which previously flew the GPS Block III Space Vehicle 5 mission on June 17, 2021, and the GPS III SV04 mission in 2020. Since its previous launch, the booster has undergone inspections and refurbishment at SpaceX’s new Roberts Road processing hanger at the Kennedy Space Center.
The Inspiration 4 crew after signing their names on the booster that will propel them towards low Earth orbit. (Credit: Inspiration 4)
Once the booster is moved to the horizontal integration facility (HIF) at LC-39A, technicians will mate it with the second stage and Crew Dragon Resilience. As the booster has flown two previous missions, this flight will mark the first time humans have flown on a SpaceX booster flying for the third time.
Resilience, officially Crew Dragon C207, has undergone numerous modifications following its flight on the Crew-1 (USCV-1) mission from November 2020 to May 2021.
Most notably, SpaceX removed the docking port from the spacecraft and installed a cupola instead. The cupola is a giant glass dome mounted to the forward section of the vehicle that will provide the crew an unobstructed, 360-degree view of Earth. The cupola on Resilience will be the largest window flown to space to date.
As Resilience is not going to a space station, the Inspiration4 mission is limited to up to five days in orbit due to Dragon’s free-flying capabilities.
(Lead image: Render of Dragon with a Cupola installed. Credit: SpaceX)
