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United States — SpaceX is preparing to send the first all-civilian crew into Earth’s orbit Wednesday evening, capping a summer of private spaceflight with one of the most ambitious tourism missions to date.
A five-hour launch window for “Inspiration4” opens from 8:02 pm (0002 GMT Thursday), and weather conditions remain good with an 80 percent chance of launch, according to official forecasters.
After a visit from SpaceX boss Elon Musk, the crew climbed into white Teslas to applause from a small crowd under sunny skies and headed to the facility where they will don their spacesuits.
A Falcon 9 rocket, with a Dragon capsule at its top, will blast off from the legendary launch complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where the Apollo 11 mission once took off for the Moon.
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The spaceship’s trajectory will take it to an altitude of 357 miles (575 kilometers), which is deeper into space than the International Space Station (ISS).
After spending three days orbiting the globe, the four-person crew, all Americans, will splash down off the Florida coast.
