Falcon 9 static fire complete ahead of the historic Inspiration 4 mission! 🔥📸 @SpaceflightNow
F9/I4: SpaceX hot-fired the Inspiration4 Falcon 9 rocket at 2:30am EDT (0630 UTC) to clear the way for launch Wednesday on the first all-civilian, non-government flight to orbit; test appeared normal, but as usual will now await an update from SpaceX on results
Static fire test of Falcon 9 complete – targeting Wednesday, September 15 for launch of Dragon’s first all-civilian human spaceflight. The 5-hour launch window opens at 8:02 p.m. EDT
I received a new cancel-and-replace Space Debris notice with reduced durations for the first two days from half-days to approximately five hours. I was expecting to receive a matching Rocket Launching notice, but so far nothing.(Emphasis added.)Quote from: NGA130032Z SEP 21HYDROPAC 2593/21(83).SOUTH PACIFIC. DNC 06. 1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS, SPACE DEBRIS 160113Z TO 160636Z SEP, ALTERNATE 170113Z TO 170639Z, 180113Z TO 190124Z, 190113Z TO 200124Z AND 200113Z TO 210124Z SEP IN AREA BOUND BY 40-00S 165-52W, 39-26S 165-49W, 38-37S 165-18W, 34-39S 160-48W, 30-12S 154-38W, 27-55S 151-34W, 26-14S 148-33W, 25-54S 147-07W, 26-07S 146-38W, 26-48S 146-38W, 28-20S 147-29W, 30-34S 149-08W, 32-55S 151-30W, 35-53S 155-12W, 37-40S 157-54W, 39-01S 160-26W, 40-08S 163-28W, 40-22S 165-04W, 40-18S 165-34W.2. CANCEL HYDROPAC 2568/21.3. CANCEL THIS MSG 210224Z SEP 21.
130032Z SEP 21HYDROPAC 2593/21(83).SOUTH PACIFIC. DNC 06. 1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS, SPACE DEBRIS 160113Z TO 160636Z SEP, ALTERNATE 170113Z TO 170639Z, 180113Z TO 190124Z, 190113Z TO 200124Z AND 200113Z TO 210124Z SEP IN AREA BOUND BY 40-00S 165-52W, 39-26S 165-49W, 38-37S 165-18W, 34-39S 160-48W, 30-12S 154-38W, 27-55S 151-34W, 26-14S 148-33W, 25-54S 147-07W, 26-07S 146-38W, 26-48S 146-38W, 28-20S 147-29W, 30-34S 149-08W, 32-55S 151-30W, 35-53S 155-12W, 37-40S 157-54W, 39-01S 160-26W, 40-08S 163-28W, 40-22S 165-04W, 40-18S 165-34W.2. CANCEL HYDROPAC 2568/21.3. CANCEL THIS MSG 210224Z SEP 21.
131308Z SEP 21NAVAREA IV 830/21(11,26).WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.FLORIDA.1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS, ROCKET LAUNCHING 160002Z TO 160539Z SEP, ALTERNATE 170005Z TO 170542Z, 180001Z TO 190026Z, 190001Z TO 200026Z AND 200001Z TO 210026Z SEP IN AREAS BOUND BY: A. 28-37N 080-40W, 28-58N 080-20W, 29-08N 080-08W, 29-13N 080-01W, 29-11N 079-59W, 28-48N 080-19W, 28-37N 080-30W, 28-32N 080-36W. B. 31-40N 077-31W, 32-18N 077-00W, 32-43N 076-20W, 32-30N 076-05W, 31-52N 076-30W, 31-29N 077-18W.2. CANCEL NAVAREA IV 823/21.3. CANCEL THIS MSG 210126Z SEP 21.
https://twitter.com/inspiration4x/status/1437282440180023297Quote Launch rehearsal complete for our #Inspiration4 crew — getting closer to liftoff!twitter.com/spacex/status/1437274001898754053?s=21Quote SpaceX completed a full rehearsal of launch day activities with the @Inspiration4x crew
Launch rehearsal complete for our #Inspiration4 crew — getting closer to liftoff!
SpaceX completed a full rehearsal of launch day activities with the @Inspiration4x crew
I get from these images they are not departing from O&C but from a SpaceX facility.
For the first time, SpaceX will use its own facility near pad 39A for the all-private Inspiration4 crew to put on their spacesuits.Astronauts on NASA missions since Apollo have suited up for launch at the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building located in the KSC industrial area, near the center's headquarters.The Inspiration4 crew members are this evening rehearsing the steps they will take on launch day. Rather than walking out of NASA's O&C Building, the crew departed from SpaceX's "Hangar X" facility located south of the Vehicle Assembly Building, boarded their Tesla Model X automobiles, and rode out to pad 39A to the suit-up room near the SpaceX hangar.
https://twitter.com/cbs_spacenews/status/1437176299936681985QuoteF9/I4: The Inspiration 4 crew was driven to pad 39A Sunday evening to strap in for a dress rehearsal countdown; launch of the first all-civilian, non-government flight to orbit is planned for Wednesday, around 8pm EDT
F9/I4: The Inspiration 4 crew was driven to pad 39A Sunday evening to strap in for a dress rehearsal countdown; launch of the first all-civilian, non-government flight to orbit is planned for Wednesday, around 8pm EDT
Quote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 09/13/2021 05:43 amhttps://twitter.com/inspiration4x/status/1437282440180023297Quote Launch rehearsal complete for our #Inspiration4 crew — getting closer to liftoff!twitter.com/spacex/status/1437274001898754053?s=21Quote SpaceX completed a full rehearsal of launch day activities with the @Inspiration4x crewFrom the last photo (in the capsule), it appears there is a NASA HUNCH payload installed under and between the center two seats. https://nasahunch.com/Does anyone know what is flying?
Quote from: AstroWare on 09/13/2021 02:47 pmQuote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 09/13/2021 05:43 amhttps://twitter.com/inspiration4x/status/1437282440180023297Quote Launch rehearsal complete for our #Inspiration4 crew — getting closer to liftoff!twitter.com/spacex/status/1437274001898754053?s=21Quote SpaceX completed a full rehearsal of launch day activities with the @Inspiration4x crewFrom the last photo (in the capsule), it appears there is a NASA HUNCH payload installed under and between the center two seats. https://nasahunch.com/Does anyone know what is flying?I think it's only the locker which is made by HUNCH students; the contents are from someone else.To add to the outstanding questions: the second photo has Morse code in the background. What does it say (and where is that photo taken? Hanger X?)
Ready for launch!👩🏾🚀🚀🌏🐉@inspiration4x @SpaceX
🚀🐉✨
Dr. Sian “Leo” Proctor @DrSianProctorReady for launch! Astronauta,@inspiration4 @SpaceX
Tonight a bunch of @SpaceX folks were geeking out on our internal company chat platform about #Inspiration4 and specifically how it demonstrates the upcoming accessibility of space, and surprisingly it turned into a long company-wide chat about imposter syndrome. The entire world has imposter syndrome. But especially about space. Practically no one on Earth believes they will ever go into space. But also about literally everything. #Inspiration4 is actually an amazing demonstration of the current and future state of the accessibility of space to the average person. The first part of the conversation was about addressing some takes by folks in the media, who said it's no different than Bezos & Branson. Billionaires in space. But #Inspiration4 is about proving exactly the opposite, and they're actually doing a great job. Of course, the first civilian mission has to be paid for, and some folks and some media outlets are dismissing this entire mission just because it has financial support from somewhere. Back on topic, we started talking about this article which criticized the mission as just more "billionaires in space," and we moved on to the participants. We started talking about how similar we are to the participants. Some of us don't have college degrees. Some of us have health issues that would keep us out of the astronaut program. We've met people who thought there were already people on the Moon and Mars. Most folks don't understand space. but. We started talking about how amazing #Inspiration4 is and started questioning our own roles. The conversation evolved into an imposter syndrome support group. 😭 And the longer we talked, the more people chimed in, and the more people who chimed in, the more people came in validating the ones who where questioning. It was a snowball of people telling each other how they appreciated each other and how they deserved to be there and confirming folks latent self-affirmations. And this is exactly what #Inspiration4 is about. We're all worthy. We launch each other. To Mars.
None of the crew has ever been to space before. Not the spacecraft’s commander, a high school dropout. Not the pilot of the mission. The medical officer is a childhood cancer survivor who has a prosthetic in her leg. The fourth crew member lucked into the seat after a friend backed out.This unorthodox mix of would-be explorers, all strangers until just a few months ago, from different walks of life, will make history as early as Wednesday evening as the first all-civilian group of astronauts. Their mission is scheduled to last longer than John Glenn’s Mercury mission and to soar higher than any human spaceflight since the Apollo era. And for this flight, NASA is just a bystander.If all goes to plan, the Inspiration4 flight would usher in a new era of human space exploration. It is yet another sign of the growth of the commercial space industry and the rapid erosion of governments’ long-held monopoly on spaceflight.
Isaacman is meant to be the first of many customers wealthy enough to afford such an orbital trip. When the Inspiration4 was announced in February, the entrepreneur said he was aware that his crew would send a message about whom space is for, and he promised that the lineup would “absolutely be diverse.” “I could have just invited a bunch of my pilot buddies to go, and we would have had a great time and come back and had a bunch of cocktails,” Isaacman said in a recent interview with Time. Someday, there might indeed be a crew of pilot buddies, or maybe even a bachelor party. But on this first flight, the crew is a wholesome, starry-eyed bunch, imbued with a sense of awe at what they’re about to do. In many ways, their mission marks the beginning of a new era in American spaceflight.There was one moment in Kramer’s interviews with the crew that really struck me, not for its magnitude, but for its delightful mundanity. Isaacman mentioned that the crew’s reading material consisted of many PDFs, including “a handful of PDFs that really are going to matter.” Which certainly makes sense—what other type of document would they use for a bunch of in-depth spacecraft manuals? But still—PDFs! Just another reminder that soaring to such a breathtaking view of Earth does require some less-dazzling work.
SpaceX is targeting a five-hour launch on Wednesday, September 15, opening at 8:02 p.m. EDT (Thursday, September 16 at 00:02 UTC) for launch of the Inspiration4 mission – the world’s first all-civilian human spaceflight to orbit – aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Approximately three days after liftoff, Dragon and the Inspiration4 crew will return to Earth and splash down at one of several possible landing sites off the Florida coast.SpaceX’s webcast for launch of the Inspiration4 mission will go live ~4 hours before liftoff.Inspiration4 is commanded by Jared Isaacman, founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments and an accomplished pilot and adventurer. Joining him are Medical Officer Hayley Arceneaux, a physician assistant at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® and pediatric cancer survivor; Mission Specialist Chris Sembroski, an Air Force veteran and aerospace data engineer; and Mission Pilot Dr. Sian Proctor, a geoscientist, entrepreneur, and trained pilot.