The quartet of newly minted citizen astronauts comprising the SpaceX Inspiration4 mission safely splashed down in the Atlantic off Florida's coast on Saturday , completing a three-day flight of the first all-civilian crew ever launched into Earth orbit.
Applause was heard from the SpaceX flight control center in suburban Los Angeles as the first parachutes were seen deploying, slowing the capsule's descent to about 15 miles per hour before splashdown, and again as the craft hit the water. SpaceX supplied the spacecraft, launched it from Florida and flew it from the company's suburban Los Angeles headquarters.
It also marked the debut flight of Musk's new space tourism business and a leap ahead of competitors likewise offering rides on rocket ships to well-heeled customers willing to pay a small fortune to experience the exhilaration of spaceflight and earn amateur astronaut wings. He had paid an undisclosed but reportedly enormous sum - put by Time magazine at roughly US$200 million - to fellow billionaire Musk for all four seats aboard the Crew Dragon.
The Inspiration4 crew had no part to play in flying the spacecraft, which was operated by ground-based flight teams and onboard guidance systems, even though Isaacman and Proctor are both licensed pilots.
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