Inspiration 4 - First all-civilian space mission

[Crispy]

Funded (and captained) by tech billionaire Jared Isaacman, the rest of the crew are:

Hayley Arceneaux, childhood cancer survivor and now physician assistant at St Judes hospital for child cancer.
Sian Procter, a space science advocate and artist, who was chosen from a list of people who use Isaacman's business technology
Chris Sembroski, an aerospace engineer who won a lottery from thousands who donated to St. Judes in a special fundraising drive ($200m+ raised)

Of all the "billionaires in space" stories this year, this one's the actual real deal, and also the only one with even vaguely altrusitic goals.

Netflix have a documentary series. First two epsiodes are out now. 3rd will be launch day (16th September) and the 4th for the flight itself.

Watch Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space | Netflix Official Site

From training to launch to landing, this all-access docuseries rides along with the Inspiration4 crew on the first all-civilian orbital space mission.

www.netflix.com

SpaceX Dragon 2 has been fitted out with a special 360° observation dome, and will be flying to a higher altitude than anyone has been since the moon landings (Not by all that much mind. 590km vs the space station at 420km)

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Paging Mation

 

[a_chap]

It's better then the billionaires' hop as it's going into orbit.

I have to confess it's the first I've heard of it though which makes me a bit suspicious.

 

[SpookyFrank]

If only there was some way he could've just given money directly to the hospital.

 

[Crispy]

He did give $100m tbf
Nobody's saying what he paid for the spaceflight.

 

[urbanspaceman]

There's a Netflix documentary series about this mission screening at the moment. I've only watched the first one so far, which focused on the physician's aide from St. Jude's Hospital. She was under the impression that people are currently travelling to the Moon. My point: can someone who appears to be completely ignorant about spaceflight make an informed decision about the risks ? I'm reminded of the Challenger disaster, which carried Christa Mcauliffe, a schoolteacher. NASA was pitching the mission as being about as risky as a bus ride. The PR fallout was disastrous. At the moment every flight is test flight. As a space cadet myself, my fingers will be crossed for the passengers.

 

[Crispy]

The second episode has a big section on the two shuttle disasters, specifically calling out Mcauliffe, and the participants talk about the risk.

 

[DaveCinzano]

Definite Bond villain backstory points

 

[Crispy]

Launch is just after 1am, but the stream is live already

 

[MikeMcc]

Absolutely nailed the launch and the first stage return. I watched up to the Cupola opening. Haven't seen anything so far today.

 

[2hats]

Watched it pass over earlier (2024BST), from central UK. Half a pass till orbital sunset. Needs a moderately dark location and relatively cloud free sky as was about mag +3.

 

[T & P]

Whereas I have zero technical insight to back up this opinion, I reckon we might achieve functional and reliable pilotless spaceship missions before we have a fully functional driverless car network

 

[Crispy]

Absolutely nailed the launch and the first stage return. I watched up to the Cupola opening. Haven't seen anything so far today.

They're not doing much live broadcasting at all. 1: Netflix want the good stuff for their series and 2: It's a private flight and the the crew didn't want to be on live TV all the time.