SpaceX’s crew of private astronauts spend their first two days in space interacting with children, doing research and taking in views of the planet hundreds of miles away.
On Saturday, the Elon Musk-led company plans to bring members of the Inspiration 4 mission back to Earth, bringing back the Crew Dragon spacecraft that was carrying them into orbit in a splashdown landing off the coast of Florida. Is. According to the company, the ship is expected to land after 7 p.m. ET Saturday, or about three days after take off.
The mission marks the first time a team of amateur astronauts has traveled to orbit on a private company spacecraft.
Jared Isaacman, the entrepreneur who paid for the mission, said, “We’re just devoting all of our time to science, research, and playing some guitar, and trying to raise some good awareness for an important cause for us on Earth. ” Friday afternoon during the SpaceX live stream.
The comments were the crew’s first public comments since they landed in the Crew Dragon vehicle atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Wednesday evening.
During the live stream on his second day in class, Mr. Isaacman, chief executive of payment-processing company Shift4 Payments Inc., was seen floating, vertically, at a camera.
Chris Sambrowski, an Air Force veteran and aerospace-industry employee, plays a guitar for a moment while Sean Proctor shows off a drawing he had made. Crew member Hayley Arsinox, a medical assistant, appeared upside down when the live stream began.
“Healey is a winner in spinning,” said Dr. Proctor.
Those on board said they enjoyed watching Earth from a domed-cupola window that SpaceX had added to the vehicle in place of a docking system that was not needed because the vehicle is not connecting to the International Space Station. . Travel. The thoughts, Ms Arsinaux said, “are out of this world.”
The crew members discussed some other things about private space travel. Mr. Sambrowski confirmed that coffee was available. One of their first meals on board, according to SpaceX: cold pizza.
The Chicago band’s song “You’re the Inspiration” woke the crew on Friday, according to a tweet from the team behind the mission.
Mr Isaacman said the crew was using a portable ultrasound device for various experiments. They have also taken blood samples and performed cognitive tests. SpaceX is collecting environmental and medical data from the crew for research purposes at Baylor College of Medicine and the Translational Research Institute for Space Health at Weill Cornell Medicine.
According to a video posted online by the organization, crew members spoke with patients at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the recipient of charitable funds being raised by the flight.
They also reached Tom Cruise. The official Twitter account of Mission said of the interaction with the actor, “You can be our wingman anytime.” At the close of trading on Friday, the crew appeared on a screen at the New York Stock Exchange.
During their first day in orbit, the crew traveled to Earth about six times, conducted some scientific experiments and had a meal before going to bed. Mr. Isaacman also made two sports bets.
It is drawing the attention of National Aeronautical and Space Administration personnel, including flight administrator Bill Nelson, who congratulated the crew and said on Twitter that NASA looks forward to a future when it is “one of many customers in the commercial space market.” “
Investors are also following the mission, the latest in a series of flights that have sent private citizens into space, raising hopes about the space-tourism market. In July, Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. and Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin LLC completed voyages with crew members to the edge of space.
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