Businessman & 3 Others Launched to Orbit, Become 1st All-Civilian Crew to Do So

• A 38-year-old American billionaire businessman identified as Jared Isaacman has sent himself and three others to orbit
• The businessman was launched to orbit with Sian Proctor, Hayley Arceneaux, and Chris Sembroski, on Wednesday, September 15
• They had six months of intensive training before the launch and will be spending the next three days circling the Earth

Four amateur astronauts have blasted off from Florida on a private mission to orbit on Wednesday, September 15.

The crew called Inspiration4 comprised of an American billionaire businessman identified as Jared Issacman, Hayley Arceneaux, Sian Proctor and Chris Sembroski, BBC reports.

After their six months intensive training, they rode out of the Kennedy Space Center in a Dragon capsule made available by the SpaceX rocket company.

Circling the Earth

The four-member crew will be spending the next three days circling the Earth.

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Reuters reports that Isaacman paid an undisclosed sum of money to founder of SpaceX Elon Musk to send himself and his three crewmates aloft. Quoting Time magazine, Reuters stated that Isaacman paid $200 million for the four seats.

Onboard computer systems will be in control of their Dragon capsule which is overseen by SpaceX teams on the ground.

Social media reacts

Many social media users soon flooded the comment section of BBC's post on Instagram to share their thoughts on the development.

@the_unconventional_indian said:

"1% are getting away with destroying the environment meanwhile, peasants must pay everything to protect the planet."

@davesisonn wrote:

"Literally there is no point in this, just causing more climate change problems for the sake of having fun. Pathetic."

@haikaboo said:

""Amateur and rich" i am assuming."

@leovalenzuelan wrote:

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"What a frivolous waste of resources when the planet is in its worst crisis."

@arif.lau said:

"How many veterans could have been housed and fed with that waste of money. SMFH Nothing to celebrate."

US comedian Kevin Hart turns down offer to launch into space: Not just yet

In related news, Briefly News previously reported that Kevin Hart recently revealed that he turned down an offer to go to space. The American comedian spoke about it during the latest episode of his Sirius XM show Straight From The Hart.

"I was offered a seat on a shuttle to space, and the offer came with wanting to document a celebrity's experience.”

He went on to say that the experience would have been documented from the preparation phase to the completion of the 60-90 minute trip.

Although Hart did not divulge how much he was offered, he did insist that the money wasn’t important. The reason he rejected the offer was simply due to the high risks involved in space travel.

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The funny man said:

“I would love to know the record of space shuttles that made it versus the ones that didn't. What's the record of success versus non-success?' And that's my reason. That number is too close. It's not a crazy upside down number one way or the other.”

He continued:

“It's too f------ close, and that's that for me.”

The media personality has not completely ruled out the possibility of literally reaching for the stars, however he feels like he needs at least a few more years to enjoy life on earth.

“Now, if I'm on the other side of life, if I'm 60, 65, my kids are a certain age, I've seen all the flowers blossom, and I'd have lived life, [then] that's something that you punctuate it with.”

The recent obsession with space travel has been spurred on by billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.

Source: Briefly News