Copernical Team
Five key facts on Inspiration4 space mission
SpaceX is set to launch four people into space Wednesday on a three-day mission that is the first to orbit the Earth with exclusively private citizens on board.
Here are the key facts about Inspiration4.
The spacecraft
At the top of the Falcon 9 rocket, which is 70 meters high, sits the Dragon capsule, where the crew will be.
This spacecraft has already taken 10 astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on three separate missions.
The Dragon capsule, eight meters high and four meters wide, has been modified for this flight. A huge glass dome has been installed to offer passengers a 360-degree view of space.
The flight schedule
Take-off is scheduled on Wednesday beginning at 8:02 pm (0002 GMT Thursday) from the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
In first, SpaceX to send all-civilian crew into Earth orbit
Can four people who've never been to space before spend three days spinning around Earth after only a few months of training?
That's the challenge SpaceX has set for itself when it launches its first tourism mission on Wednesday, the first time a crew of exclusively private citizens will orbit our planet.
A five-hour launch window for "Inspiration4" opens from 8:02 pm (0002 GMT Thursday).
A Falcon 9 rocket, with a Dragon capsule at its top, will blast off from the legendary launch complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Center in Florida, from where the Apollo 11 mission took off for the Moon.
The spaceship's trajectory will take it to an altitude of 575 kilometers (357 miles), deeper into space than the International Space Station (ISS).
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