In three days, 25 sunsets and sunrises: how ordinary people live in the SpaceX Dragon space capsule

Unique flight

Elon Musk's SpaceX launched the Crew Dragon manned spacecraft into orbit.

the first fully commercial crew,consisting of four non-professional astronauts. The launch took place on September 16, 2021 at 03:02 Kyiv time from the Cape Canaveral Cosmodrome in Florida. The flight will last three days. The ship's splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico is scheduled for September 19 at 02:00 am Moscow time. In the future, SpaceX plans to use this ship at least one more time - members of the first fully private mission, Ax-1, planned for January 2022, will fly to the ISS.

There are four people in orbit.The crew commander of Inspiration4 is Jared Isaacman, who is a qualified jet pilot. Along with him, a college professor from Arizona, Cyenne Proctor, an employee of a children's hospital, Haley Arsenault, and an engineer and former US Air Force mechanic, Christopher Sembroski, will go into space. By the way, 29-year-old Hayley Arsenault will become the youngest American woman to be in space.

Crew is reused for Inspiration4Dragon (С207 Resilience) of the Crew-1 mission, which was specially modified for this mission - instead of a docking station, a large transparent dome was installed for observation and photographing. Also for this mission, SpaceX is reusing the first stage with the nomenclature number B1062, which previously flew into space twice (previously, it launched the GPS III-04 and GPS III-05 satellites).

Nine square meters, etc.toilet with a view

The height of the SpaceX Dragon capsule is 8.1 meters, and the diameter is  four meters. The total volume is only 9.3 m².

One of the crew, Chris Sembroski, a 42-year-old Air Force veteran, likened it to traveling with friends in a van, which is impossible to get off of if you want to take a break.

The exact technology that formed the basistoilets on board the capsule is a SpaceX secret. But Hayley Arceneaux, one of the four crew members, said in the Netflix documentary that, in fact, "the toilet is on the ceiling." “There is nothing upside down in space,” she shared.

Inspiration4 crew member Hailey Arsenault looks out the viewing window of the SpaceX capsule.

The toilet is located next to a transparent glass observation dome, which offers a breathtaking 360-degree view of space.

“When people inevitably have to use the toilet, they have the most breathtaking view at their disposal,” billionaire Jared Isaacman, mission commander, told Business Insider.

Privacy is provided by a simple curtain.

What are astronauts doing in space?

On Friday, SpaceX hosted a video call betweenthe Inspiration4 team and patients at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.

Inspiration4 Team

One patient asked 29-year-old Hayley Arceneaux, who was treated at the hospital for bone cancer as a child and now works there as a physician assistant, how she was doing. "having fun" in space.

Arsenault replied that mainly astronauts"Eating, doing housework, and looking out the window at the world." Lockheed Martin aerospace corporation Christopher Sembroski added that astronauts are also engaged in research. So, they do many "many blood tests and constantly monitor their blood glucose levels."

The astronauts also said that they had already seen more than 25 sunrises and sunsets from Earth’s orbit.

The astronauts were also asked what their favorite "space food" was.

“My favorite space food is pizza, whichI ate yesterday. I'll have dinner tonight, too, ”said Sian Proctor, 51, a geology professor at a small college in Arizona who is now a NASA astronaut.

Also on board the Dragon SpaceX capsulemusical interludes are planned. Each passenger created a playlist of 10 songs, and Sembroski even brought a ukelele with him. The tools and other items used by the astronauts will be put up for auction later. Proceeds will be donated to a hospital in Memphis. The mission's goal is to raise $200 million for the hospital. Jared Isaacman, an American billionaire and the fourth participant in the mission, who paid for all the seats on the ship, personally donated $100 million.

Scientific research

SpaceX tweeted Thursday that the teamconducted the "first round of scientific research." One of the mission's goals is to collect data on the effects of radiation and other conditions in the extraterrestrial environment on newcomers to space exploration.

Their heart rate, sleep and oxygen levels inblood, as the level of radiation, is carefully monitored. The researchers also assessed the cognitive functions of the crew prior to the flight. The figures will be compared with those that will be obtained upon the return of the astronauts to Earth.

Read more

The Earth began to spin faster: why is this happening and is there a danger

The descendants of animals that survived after a possible asteroid fall still live on Earth

Physicists have cooled atoms to the lowest temperature in the world