SpaceX launches 1st all-civilian crew into orbit

SpaceX made history on Wednesday night, when it launched an all-civilian crew into orbit.

This is the first-ever spaceflight without any professional astronauts on board. The four private citizens on the Inspiration4 mission are Jared Isaacman, a billionaire who paid for the launch and is using it as a fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital; Hayley Arceneaux, a physician assistant at St. Jude's; Chris Sembroski, an aerospace worker; and Sian Proctor, an educator and trained pilot.

The crew members are on board a modified Crew Dragon capsule, USA Today reports, which was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8:02 p.m. ET. They trained together for about five months, and will spend the next three days orbiting the Earth. They are expected to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere on Saturday, splashing down off the Florida coast.

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During a Tuesday press conference, Isaacman said that from the start, the crew has wanted to "deliver a very inspiring message, certainly the opportunities up in space and what can be done there but also what we can accomplish here on Earth."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.