SpaceX Inspiration4 Mission - The First All-Private Crewed Orbital Space Mission

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

OverTheTop

Well-Known Member
TRF Supporter
Joined
Jul 9, 2007
Messages
9,427
Reaction score
8,603
Location
Melbourne Australia
From SpaceFlightNow.com
https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/09/12/spacex-rocket-rolls-out-to-pad-39a-for-inspiration4-launch/51456065598_c11cf6ebe3_k.jpg

"SpaceX raised a Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule on pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Sunday, kicking off a busy few days before launch of the all-private Inspiration4 crew mission as soon as Wednesday night.

The Falcon 9 launcher rolled out of SpaceX’s hangar at the southern perimeter of pad 39A late Saturday. The rocket rode a transporter up the ramp to the historic seaside launch facility, where a hydraulic lift raised the 215-foot-tall (65-meter) launcher vertical just before 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT) Sunday.

The rollout was to be followed by a dress rehearsal Sunday evening with the four private citizens who will ride the Falcon 9 into orbit this week.

The Inspiration4 mission is set to become the first human spaceflight to reach orbit with a crew comprised entirely of private citizens. Every crew to fly in Earth orbit to date has been led by a government-employed astronaut.

-- snip --

SpaceX is set to launch the Inspiration4 crew members to an altitude of roughly 357 miles (575 kilometers) on a three-day flight, during which the Crew Dragon capsule will circle Earth dozens of times before re-entering the atmosphere for a parachute-assisted splashdown off the coast of Florida.

It will be just the fourth flight of a Crew Dragon capsule with people on-board, following three launches that carried NASA astronauts to the International Space Station.

The Inspiration4 mission will not dock with the station, but will orbit solo. SpaceX replaced the docking port on the Crew Dragon capsule with a glass dome designed to give the crew members panoramic views of Earth and space as the ship speeds around the planet at more than 17,000 mph."
 
I think in the thread title, you mean to say first private orbital mission.
 
I would love to go to space, and if I were offered an opportunity like this, I would definitely take it. But does 3 days seem a bit long for an orbital flight like this? If going to ISS, I’d be down for a long mission. If going to orbit the moon, I’d be down for a week. But after a few earth orbits, how many more do you really want? If you are 4 people in a small capsule for 3 days, how many trips to the space toilet is that?
 
From Space.com

SpaceX's Inspiration4 mission is ready to launch to Earth orbit on Wednesday (Sept. 15), and you can watch the historic liftoff live.

The launch webcast will start on SpaceX's YouTube channel Wednesday at 3:45 p.m. EDT (1945 GMT) and will also stream here at Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX. The five-hour launch window at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida opens at 8:02 p.m. EDT (0002 GMT on Thursday, Sept. 16).
 
I would love to go to space, and if I were offered an opportunity like this, I would definitely take it. But does 3 days seem a bit long for an orbital flight like this? If going to ISS, I’d be down for a long mission. If going to orbit the moon, I’d be down for a week. But after a few earth orbits, how many more do you really want? If you are 4 people in a small capsule for 3 days, how many trips to the space toilet is that?

What you might be missing is that a boost to orbit, then matching orbits and docking, is a complicated process. Most boosts to orbit are usually more than one burn (three or four typical). Just getting up there and docked can take more than a day. Getting back down is a lot easier/quicker. (I started to use the word "faster", but its just as "fast" on the way down as it was on the way up)
 
What you might be missing is that a boost to orbit, then matching orbits and docking, is a complicated process. Most boosts to orbit are usually more than one burn (three or four typical). Just getting up there and docked can take more than a day. Getting back down is a lot easier/quicker. (I started to use the word "faster", but its just as "fast" on the way down as it was on the way up)
Except, as I understood, there isn't ant docking, or even a destination, on this trip. They go up, look around for three days, and come back down. That's why they have that cool viewing dome. It's mounted where the docking adapter usually goes.
 
Except, as I understood, there isn't ant docking, or even a destination, on this trip. They go up, look around for three days, and come back down. That's why they have that cool viewing dome. It's mounted where the docking adapter usually goes.
From what I read that is where the toilet is also. What a view while you 💩💩💩.
 
Wait. It's not private. Not even a screen. yikes. I have a shy bladder. I would really need to go when we got down.

After five days your bladder would have exploded... It's the #2 that would create a backlog for me. (Back. Log. OK, prolly not funny...) :rolleyes:
 
Wait. It's not private. Not even a screen. yikes. I have a shy bladder. I would really need to go when we got down.

I don’t actually know for sure there is no screen. There must be something. But it’s pretty tight quarters in there.
 
After five days your bladder would have exploded... It's the #2 that would create a backlog for me. (Back. Log. OK, prolly not funny...) :rolleyes:

No, that’s funny!

My understanding is that in space, the zero G allows the “log” to curl back on itself, so if you pinch it off at the right moment, it makes a perfect donut, which is known as an Ass-Toroid.
 
Hi TRF colleagues,

I disagree that the Inspiration4 mission was an "all-private" mission. The spacecraft took off using NASA facilities, and NASA facilities were used throughout in training the crew and preparing numerous aspects of the flight. We could claim this to have been a public-private mission.

That is my opinion. Thank you for listening.

Stanley
 
I disagree that the Inspiration4 mission was an "all-private" mission. The spacecraft took off using NASA facilities, and NASA facilities were used throughout in training the crew and preparing numerous aspects of the flight. We could claim this to have been a public-private mission.

Space X signed a 20-year lease for launch pad 39A:
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/spacex-signs-20-year-lease-historic-launch-pad-39a-n81226
And Inspiration4 mission took off from launch pad 39A:
https://www.space.com/news/live/spacex-inspiration4-updates
So the question becomes "what payment from Space X to NASA is required, for the mission to be "all-private"?".

Same with airlines. They all pay governements for use of airfields, weather services, emergency services, etc. The line can be blurry so at some point, "as private as possible" is summarized to "all-private".
 
Last edited:
Space X signed a 20-year lease for launch pad 39A:
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/spacex-signs-20-year-lease-historic-launch-pad-39a-n81226
And Inspiration4 mission took off from launch pad 39A:
https://www.space.com/news/live/spacex-inspiration4-updates
So the question becomes "what payment from Space X to NASA is required, for the mission to be "all-private"?".

Same with airlines. They all pay governements for use of airfields, weather services, emergency services, etc. The line can be blurry so at some point, "as private as possible" is summarized to "all-private".
The real question is whether NASA had a stake in the mission aka money, sounds like their only involvement was for use of NASA services related to tracking and communication (pretty sure SpaceX paid NASA for those services).
 
The real question is whether NASA had a stake in the mission aka money, sounds like their only involvement was for use of NASA services related to tracking and communication (pretty sure SpaceX paid NASA for those services).

Yes, but I doubt an organization like NASA ever expects a financial return. It would rather help a company with different kinds of contributions, such as land or equipment use (like tracking and comm), for a fee anywhere from "free" to "market value".
 
Yes, but I doubt an organization like NASA ever expects a financial return. It would rather help a company with different kinds of contributions, such as land or equipment use (like tracking and comm), for a fee anywhere from "free" to "market value".
NASA, to me anyway, seems also somewhat "leashed" to the whims of various political figures and parties with managerial decisions being mindful of such "issues. (IE: Must have production from noted districts..... last admin it was to return to the moon, oe before that a focus on global issues including planetary warmimg, being more inclusive...) Seems like NASA's focus oftens changes with elections. Look to the late 50's up to the final moon landing. One primary goal. moon landing. Follow it to completion.

Yes, NASA has many projects going but these high visability ones, well....
 
Back
Top