A new video shared by SpaceX’s first all-civilian crew captures their awe-inspiring gaze as they peek out of the spacecraft’s dome for the first time to see the glorious sight of Earth 575 kilometers below.
From crew member Dr. Sian Proctor tweeted and retweeted by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to his 60 million followers, the video contains the perfect soundtrack that every film fan will recognize immediately: Strauss Thus spoke zarathustrawho made famous in the opening sequence of Stanley Kubricks 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The footage also contains the colorful and colorless reaction of crewmate Chris Sembroski to the fantastic view: “Holy shit!”
The moment when me and my great crew, @rookisaacman, @ArceneauxHayley, @ChrisSembroski opened the @SpaceX Dome a real highlight of the for the first time @ inspiration4x Mission. Make sure you turn on Countdown on @netflix to see more epic moments from space! @TIME pic.twitter.com/AKmturr9Du
– Dr. Sian “Leo” Proctor (@DrSianProctor) September 21, 2021
Given the breathtaking landscape and the emotions he must have felt when he saw Earth on his first and only trip into space, Sembroski’s heartfelt reaction is perfectly understandable. In fact, everyone else did really well to avoid introducing a few selected expletives at a very special moment.
SpaceX has flown many Crew Dragon spaceships to the International Space Station, but this is the first to feature an all-glass dome for panoramic views of our planet and beyond. During take-off and landing, the dome is protected by the spacecraft’s nose cone. Inside the ship, access to the dome and this incredible view is achieved by pulling back a hatch, a process that is shown in the video.
Another video captured by a camera near the dome shows a beautiful orbital sunset.
View of an orbital sunset from the dragon dome pic.twitter.com/Fl1fLrXD9o
– SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 18, 2021
Sembroski flew into space last week as part of the Inspiration4 mission. Accompanied by him on what was essentially SpaceX’s first space tourism voyage, Mission Commander Jared Isaacman, Hayley Arceneaux, and Proctor were who recorded the video.
The crew returned safely to Earth on Saturday and splashed off the coast of Florida in the Atlantic.
Shift4 Payments founder Isaacman secured the flight in a private deal with SpaceX. He said the primary purpose of the mission was to raise funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, although the crew also conducted various scientific experiments in microgravity conditions during their three days in space.
SpaceX is expected to use the successful Inspiration4 mission as a launch pad for further space travel with exclusively civilian crews. However, anyone paying SpaceX a lot of money for an orbital adventure cannot just show up and hop aboard the Crew Dragon. The Inspiration4 crew has undergone intense training over the past six months to prepare for the ride of a lifetime and subsequent crews will do the same.
The highlights of the historic mission can be found in the collection of pictures and videos from Digital Trends showing the journey from takeoff to landing.
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