‘Welcome Home to Planet Earth!’: Historic All-Civilian Space X Flight Successfully Splashes Down Off Florida Coast

Sarah RumpfSep 18th, 2021, 8:12 pm
 

The world’s first all-civilian orbital space flight successfully completed their mission on Saturday, splashing down into the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast shortly after 7 pm ET.

Inspiration4, a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, took off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launchpad 39A on Wednesday using a Falcon 9 reusable rocket. The four crew members were Jared Issacman, the founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments; Hayley Arceneaux, a childhood cancer survivor and physician’s assistant at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; Chris Sembroski, a Lockheed Martin employee who won his ticket in a raffle; and Dr. Sian Proctor, a professor and pilot.

The mission raised money and awareness for St. Jude’s, and will continue to raise funds through February 2022. According to a SpaceX press release, nearly $154 million has been raised so far.

CNN Newsroom host Pamela Brown narrated the live video shot, remarking that it was “exciting” to observe this mission, “with a crew unlike any ever sent to the stars.”

“These are citizens in space,” said Brown. “None of the four people aboard came from NASA or another government-run space agency.”

The mission, she continued, marked “the start of a new era for space exploration.”

The video showed the Inspiration4 successfully deploy its chutes and land in the water, as the SpaceX ground crew clapped and cheered.

“Inspiration 4, on behalf of SpaceX, welcome home to planet Earth!” the ground crew greeted the space explorers. “Your mission has shown the world that space is for all of us and that everyday people can make extraordinary impacts in the world around them. Thank you for sharing your leadership, hope, generosity, and prosperity and congratulations on your incredible journey.”

“Thanks so much, SpaceX,” came the reply from Isaacson. “It was a heck of a ride for us. Just getting started!”

Watch the video above, via CNN.

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Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.