Spaceflight Now reported that the Friday landing of the Tiangong crew after a three-month mission ended a historic day in spaceflight “with 14 people in low Earth orbit.” Eleven people remained in orbit: “seven on the International Space Station and four on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on the all-civilian Inspiration4 mission.” Inspiration4’s launch Wednesday raised the number of humans in orbit to 14, breaking the previous record of 13.
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
September 18, 2021 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) congratulates our corporate member SpaceX on today’s successful conclusion of the Inspiration4 mission—the first all-civilian human spaceflight to orbit. AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher made the following statement:
“On behalf of the 30,000 professional and student members of AIAA, we are excited to congratulate Elon Musk, the SpaceX team, and the Inspiration4 crew on their accomplishments! The Inspiration4 mission represents a huge step toward opening up access to space for all of us. Together, the SpaceX team and the Inspiration4 crew are accelerating our off-world future, helping extend the human neighborhood beyond planet Earth.
We recognize the countless aerospace industry professionals who were involved in making this mission a success. We salute and applaud everyone involved for turning dreams into reality and helping shape the future of aerospace.”
AIAA Media Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell
About ASCEND
Powered by AIAA, ASCEND promotes the collaborative, interdisciplinary, outcomes-driven community of professionals, students, and enthusiasts around the world who are accelerating humanity’s progress toward our off-world future! For more information, visit ascend.events, or follow ASCEND on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
Florida Today reported that the four member civilian crew of Inspiration4 will launch aboard a SpaceX rocket from Kennedy Space Center this week. Inspiration4, the first all-civilian space flight to orbit the Earth, is scheduled to launch “no earlier than 8 p.m. EDT Wednesday.”
Full Story (Florida Today)
SPACE reports that tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman “has chartered a trip to Earth orbit with” SpaceX on a mission that he will command. The Inspiration4 mission will see a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule “spend an estimated two to four days circling Earth and then come back down for an ocean splashdown.” The mission will have four crewmembers, including Isaacman, with no professional astronauts on board. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said Monday, “It will be the first-ever all-private crewed orbital mission in history.”
Full Story (SPACE)