PHOTOS & VIDEOS: Images capture historic SpaceX Inspiration4 launch
SpaceX successfully launches all-civilian Inspiration4 mission
SpaceX's first private flight has blasted off with two contest winners, a health care worker, and their billionaire sponsor. It was the first time a rocket streaked toward orbit with an all-amateur crew, with no professional astronauts on board. SpaceX's recycled rocket soared Wednesday night from the same Kennedy Space Center pad used by the company's three previous astronaut flights for NASA.
LAKE MARY, Fla. - A recycled Falcon 9 rocket soared from the same Kennedy Space Center pad used by the company's three previous astronaut flights for NASA.
SpaceX's first private flight blasted off Wednesday night with two contest winners, a health care worker, and their rich sponsor
Leading the flight is Jared Isaacman, 38, who made his fortune with a payment-processing company he started in his teens.
Joining Isaacman on the trip dubbed Inspiration4 is Hayley Arceneaux, 29, a childhood cancer survivor who works as a physician assistant where she was treated -- St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Isaacman has pledged $100 million out of his own pocket to the hospital and is seeking another $100 million in donations.
RELATED: SpaceX's Inspiration4 crew departs for launchpad in signature Teslas
Also along for the ride: sweepstakes winners Chris Sembroski, 42, a data engineer in Everett, Washington, and Sian Proctor, 51, a community college educator in Tempe, Arizona.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with Crew Dragon capsule lifts off from launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for the first completely private mission to fly into orbit on September 15, 2021 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX is flying four privat
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with Crew Dragon capsule lifts off from launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for the first completely private mission to fly into orbit on September 15, 2021 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX is flying four privat
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with Crew Dragon capsule lifts off from launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for the first completely private mission to fly into orbit on September 15, 2021 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX is flying four privat
A long exposure shows the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with Crew Dragon capsule as it flies into orbit after lifting off from launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for the first completely private mission to fly into orbit on September 15, 2021 in
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with Crew Dragon capsule flies into orbit after liftoff from launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for the first completely private mission to fly into orbit on September 15, 2021 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, carrying non-professional astronauts, launches from NASAs Kennedy Space Center launchpad 39A during the Inspiration4 mission in Merritt Island, Florida, U.S., on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021. (Photographer
SpaceX successfully launches four civilians into space
US-FL SpaceX Launches World's First 'Amateur Crew' Flight to Orbit the Earth Zoe Antoun Published 21:35 15th Sep 2021 Updated 23m ago SpaceX successfully launched four civilians into space on the evening of September 15, in a historic mission from Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre. This footage, filmed across the Indian River in Titusville, Florida, shows the a bright light emanating from the launch, as the fully automated Crew Dragon spacecraft takes off. Credit: @natesdryerventcleaning321 via Storyful
A contrail follows the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with Crew Dragon capsule as it flies into orbit after lifting off from launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for the first completely private mission to fly into orbit on September 15, 2021 in Cap
SpaceX Inspiration4 launch. [Courtesy: Ryan Elijah/FOX 35 News]
SpaceX Inspiration4 launch. [Courtesy: Danielle Lama/FOX 35 News]
The Inspiration4 crew will spend three days in orbit with a return to Earth scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 18.
SpaceX's next private trip, early next year, will see a retired NASA astronaut escorting three wealthy businessmen to the space station for a weeklong visit.
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