Crew of 1st all-civilian space mission make safe return to Earth
Miami, Sep 18 (EFE).- The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule that carried four civilians into Earth orbit on the first mission of its kind splashed down safely in the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday.
The capsule, its descent controlled by four parachutes, came to rest off the coast of Florida at 7:07 pm (23:07 GMT).
“That was a heck of a ride for us, and we’re just getting started,” commander Jared Isaacman said seconds after the craft hit the water.
Recovery ships were waiting to retrieve the Crew Dragon from the ocean.
For three days, the Crew Dragon circled the Earth at an altitude of nearly 575 km (356 mi), higher than the orbits of the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope.
Isaacman, a billionaire who financed the mission, was accompanied by Hayley Arceneaux, a cancer survivor and physician’s assistant at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; university professor Sian Proctor; and Chris Semborski, an aerospace engineer who won his seat in a raffle.
The inclusion of Arceneaux chimed with the charitable component of the Inspiration4 mission.
Isaacman set a goal of raising $100 million for St. Jude’s to add to the $100 million he had already donated.
Proctor, 51, made history as the first African American woman to pilot a spacecraft, while the 29-year-old Arceneaux became the youngest person to orbit the Earth. EFE lce/dr
