Amateur astronauts’ £145m mission
SPACE may be the final frontier but these days it seems amateurs with just six months of training can head for the stars.
In a giant leap for space tourism, a rocket built by Tesla founder Elon Musk blasted a civilian crew of four into the dark Florida skies on a three-day mission.
The trip has been bankrolled by one of the crew, Jared Isaacman, the billionaire owner of an e-commerce firm.
As they orbit the Earth every 90 minutes, 363 miles up at a speed of 17,500mph, the quartet will have no control over the flight, being in a fully automated capsule operated by SpaceX mission control. Mr Isaacman is thought to have paid around £145million to leave the planet, taking with him two sweepstake winners and a nurse who survived childhood cancer.
They will conduct medical experiments on themselves to judge the effects of space travel, witnessing 15 sunsets and sunrises a day as they stare back at the Earth.
Moments before the rocket lifted off, Mr Isaacman, who is ‘mission commander’ could be heard saying: ‘Punch it, SpaceX!’
The Inspiration4 mission involved six months of training, including hiking up Washington’s Mount Rainier and enduring intense, rapid spins in fighter jets and centrifuges.
‘15 sunsets and sunrises a day’