Inspiration4 crew ‘healthy, happy’ after first days in space
The Inspiration4 crew during an in-flight mission update broadcast. Credit: SpaceX
Since their launch two days ago, the Inspiration4 crew has settled in and begun working on their scientific research while making calls to St. Jude patients.
Commander Jared Isaacman, Pilot Sian Proctor, Chief Medical Officer Hayley Arceneaux and Mission Specialist Chris Sembroski, all non-professional astronauts, launched at 8:02 p.m. EDT Sept. 15 (00:02 Sept. 16), 2021, in a Crew Dragon spacecraft atop of a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
Inspiration4 Chief Medical Officer Hayley Arceneaux looks out of Dragon’s massive Cupola window. Credit: SpaceX
“The [Inspiration4] crew is healthy, happy and resting comfortably,” SpaceX updated via a tweet on Sept. 16. “Before the crew went to bed, they traveled 5.5 times around Earth, completed their first round of scientific research, and enjoyed a couple of meals.”
Crew Dragon was launched into a roughly 365-mile (590 kilometer) orbit around Earth, inclined roughly 51.6 degrees.
Shortly after launch, the crew spoke with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who reported they were doing well on orbit following their ascent.
SpaceX said the crew spent their first full day conducting additional research, spent time talking to St. Jude patients in private video calls back to Earth. The four even got to get their first views out of the massive Cupola window, which is the largest single window ever placed in space.
On the crew’s second day in space, they conducted an in-flight broadcast to show off how they were adapting to microgravity and some of the science experiments they were performing. They also gave a tour of the Cupola window.
Inspiration4 is set to remain in orbit for three days, which would put their return to Florida Saturday evening with a splashdown lasted for 7:06 p.m. EDT (11:06 UTC) Sept. 18 off the Atlantic Coast, likely somewhere between Jacksonville and Melbourne.
The @inspiration4x crew is set to return to Earth on Saturday, September 18 with a targeted splashdown at 7:06 p.m. EDT in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 17, 2021
Mission Specialist Chris Sembroski takes a picture inside the Cupola window. Credit: SpaceX
Video courtesy of SpaceX
While it was only two days ago, relive the Inspiration4 launch via these photos from Spaceflight Insider’s photography team.
Liftoff of Inspiration4 from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Credit: Theresa Cross / Spaceflight Insider
Credit: Matt Haskell / Spaceflight Insider
Credit: Theresa Cross / Spaceflight Insider
Credit: Theresa Cross / Spaceflight Insider
Credit: Theresa Cross / Spaceflight Insider
Credit: Theresa Cross / Spaceflight Insider
Credit: Theresa Cross / Spaceflight Insider
The Falcon 9 rocket with Inspiration4 moments before stage separation. Credit: Matt Haskell / Spaceflight Insider
Credit: Matt Haskell / Spaceflight Insider
Credit: Matt Haskell / Spaceflight Insider
Derek Richardson
Derek Richardson has a degree in mass media, with an emphasis in contemporary journalism, from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. While at Washburn, he was the managing editor of the student run newspaper, the Washburn Review. He also has a website about human spaceflight called Orbital Velocity. You can find him on twitter @TheSpaceWriter.
