The quartet of newly minted citizen astronauts comprising the SpaceX Inspiration4 mission was due to splash down in the Atlantic off Florida on Saturday, completing a three-day flight of the first all-civilian crew ever launched into Earth orbit. To prepare for atmospheric re-entry and return to Earth, the SpaceX Crew Dragon vehicle completed two rocket “burns” on Friday to lower its altitude and line up the capsule’s trajectory with the targeted landing site. The Dragon capsule, dubbed Resilience, is scheduled to parachute into the sea around 7 p.m. Eastern time, shortly before sunset, according to SpaceX, the private rocketry company founded by Tesla Inc electric automaker CEO Elon Musk. SpaceX supplied the spacecraft, launched it from Florida, and flew it from the company’s suburban Los Angeles headquarters. The Inspiration4 team blasted off on Wednesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral atop one of SpaceX’s two-stage reusable Falcon 9 …
SpaceX Capsule With World’s First All-Civilian Orbital Crew Set for Splashdown
September 18, 2021
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