First all-civilian crew launched into Earth orbit aboard SpaceX DragonThe Inspiration 4 civilian crew aboard a Crew Dragon capsule and SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Photo: Reuters)CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida: A SpaceX rocket ship blasted off from Florida on Wednesday carrying a billionaire e-commerce executive and three less-wealthy private citizens he chose to join him in the first all-civilian crew ever launched into Earth orbit. A SpaceX webcast of the launch showed Isaacman, 38, and his crewmates - Sian Proctor, 51, Hayley Arceneaux, 29, and Chris Sembroski, 42 - strapped into the pressurized cabin of their gleaming white SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, dubbed Resilience, wearing their helmeted black-and-white flight suits. The Crew Dragon, fitted with a special observation dome in place of its usual docking hatch, reached orbit almost 10 minutes after the 8.03pm blastoff (7.03am Thursday in Bangkok). At that height, which the spacecraft was expected to reach later on Wednesday night, the Crew Dragon will circle the globe once every 90 minutes at a speed of some 27,360kph, or roughly 22 times the speed of sound.

Source: Bangkok Post September 16, 2021 01:52 UTC