SpaceX set to launch first all-civilian crew into orbit

For the first time in 60 years of human spaceflight, a rocket is set to launch into orbit with no professional astronauts on board, only four tourists. The mission called Inspiration4, will last for three days. The four passengers will circle around the Earth at a low orbit of about 540 kilometres altitude.

Pennsylvania: For the first time in 60 years of human spaceflight, a rocket is set to launch into orbit with no professional astronauts on board, only four tourists. The mission called Inspiration4, will last for three days. The four passengers will circle around the Earth at a low orbit of about 540 kilometres altitude.

SpaceX’s first private flight will be led by a 38-year-old entrepreneur Jared Isaacman who’s bankrolling the entire trip. He’s taking two sweepstakes winners with him on the three-day, round-the-world trip, along with a health care worker who survived childhood cancer.

They’ll ride alone in a fully automated Dragon capsule, the same kind that SpaceX uses to send astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA. But the chartered flight won't be going there.

"We've said it right from the start, right from day one of Inspiration4, that we aim to inspire people as to what's possible in space, sure, but also what can be accomplished here on Earth. It's why St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is such an important part of our mission. It's why we went about selecting crew members in the way that we did, so that we're joined by Chris and Hayley and Dr Proctor, who all have very inspiring stories in their own right, all to a unique audience, right? There are so many elements about our story that I think make a difference," says Isaacman.

Isaacman offered one of the four capsule seats to St. Jude, which offered it to physician assistant Hayley Arceneaux, a former patient who now works at the Memphis, Tennessee, hospital.

Now 29, Arceneaux was 10 when diagnosed with bone cancer and had much of her left thigh bone replaced with a titanium rod.

She’ll be the first person in space with a prosthesis and she’ll also be the youngest American in space, beating the late Sally Ride, who became the first American woman in space in 1983 at age 32.

"I think there's a lot of points to our mission and a big one is to inspire people to push boundaries and we're pushing boundaries in a lot of different ways. The two hundred million dollar fundraising effort for St. Jude is the largest fundraising effort that St. Jude is ever seen. And that money is going to go to cancer research into helping kids and to fund treatment. But also our mission is pushing - You know, we're going to have so many firsts with our mission. And I think it's just going to inspire people to kind of, no matter what their background, to dream and to not limit themselves," says Arceneaux.

Contest winners claimed the final two seats.

Sian Proctor, 51, a community college educator in Tempe, Arizona, and former geology instructor, beat out 200 other Shift4 Payments clients with her space-themed artwork business.

Also a pilot, she was a NASA astronaut finalist more than a decade ago.

Chris Sembroski, 42, a data engineer and former Air Force missile man from Everett, Washington, entered an open lottery by donating to St. Jude.

He didn’t win, but a friend from his college days did and gave him the slot.

"We want to make sure that whatever we're doing on our mission helps answer some of those questions of, well, if you don't have to be physically perfect, well, what can we do to support more people of all kinds of backgrounds and all kinds of different characteristics to be able to enjoy space, to be able to go up. And I think that's a big part of what this mission is. If we can help St. Jude reach its goal of eliminating childhood disease, that's a great part of it for solving for Earth. At the same time, we're going to help solve for space so we can all dream big," says Sembroski.

It’s been a whirlwind since all four came together in March.

They hiked up Washington’s Mount Rainier in the snow, sampled brief bursts of weightlessness aboard modified aircraft and took intense, rapid spins in fighter jets and centrifuges.

SpaceX is providing its own facilities for private passengers to sleep, eat and hang out before launch, and to get into their white-with-black-trim flight suits.

This is SpaceX’s first private flight and the company is running the show - NASA isn't involved.

Isaacman and SpaceX settled on three days as the sweet spot for orbiting the Earth.

It gives him and his fellow passengers plenty of time to take in the views through a custom bubble-shaped window, take blood samples and conduct other medical research, and drum up interest for auction items to benefit the hospital.

While roomy for a capsule, the Dragon offers virtually no privacy; only a curtain shields the toilet. Unlike the space station and NASA’s old shuttles, there is no galley or sleeping compartments, or even separate work areas.

As for food, they’ll chow down on cold pizza following liftoff.

They’re also packing ready-to-eat, astronaut-style fare.

They'll soar 100 miles higher than the International Space Station, aiming for an altitude of 357 miles.

Liftoff is set for Wednesday (15 September) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

AP