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CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) – Space X He was aiming to launch a billionaire into orbit Wednesday night, with two contest winners and a childhood cancer survivor.
Elon Musk’s first charter passenger flight Space X and a big step in space tourism by a private company.
“Honestly it blows me away” Space X director Benji Reed said on the eve of launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. “Even talking about it right now gives me goosebumps.”
The Pennsylvania entrepreneur – Jared Isaacman – who will be credited for the account does not say how much he paid. He and his fellow passengers will spend three days in Earth orbit at an unusually high altitude, 357 miles (575 kilometers) – 100 miles (160 kilometers) higher than the International Space Station, before splashing down the coast of Florida this weekend.
Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic in July and blue originJeff Bezos launched his own rockets to increase ticket sales. But their flight barely covered the area and lasted only a few minutes.
Isaacman and others – Saint Jude Physician assistant Hayley Arceneaux and sweepstakes winners, Chris Sembroski, a data engineer, and Sian Proctor, a community college educator, said on the eve of the launch, there was little last-minute rush. For the first time in 60 years of manned spaceflight, no professional astronaut has been on a rocket attached to orbit.
Its fully automatic capsules were already in orbit: Space XSecond astronaut flight to NASA’s space station. The only significant change to the capsule, according to Reed, is the large domed window at the top, replacing the usual space station docking mechanisms.
Isaacman, the founder of a payment processing company and a successful pilot, told Musk that “his entire leadership team is focused solely on this task and is very confident.” This gives us a lot of confidence.”
Musk flew in for the launch, like hundreds of others. Space X Jude Children’s Research Hospital staff and representatives. Isaacman uses the flight to raise $200 million. Saint Jude, half of that comes from their own pockets.
Although NASA has no role in the flight, its managers and astronauts support the flight, called Inspiration4.
“In my opinion, the more people involved, the better, whether private or government,” said NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough, nearing the end of his six-month space station stay.
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