In just a few weeks, four civilians will orbit Earth aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon Resilience without a professional astronaut on board. Their preparation includes centrifuge sessions, mountaineering, and flight training.
Meet the crew: Jared Isaacman, Founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments; Hayley Arceneaux, a St. Jude Children's Research Hospital team member in Memphis; Sian Proctor, professor at a community college in Tempe, Arizona; and Christopher Sembroski, a Lockheed Martin engineer. They will make history as the first all-civilian team on SpaceX's inaugural private orbital flight.
The mission will see them circle Earth multiple times at around 570 km altitude in the Resilience capsule. Plans include a glass dome at the top for stunning 360-degree views of space and our planet. Launch is scheduled for September 15.
Spaceflight demands thorough preparation. The crew started at the National Aerospace Training and Research Center (NASTAR) in Pennsylvania, experiencing intense G-forces in a centrifuge to simulate launch and reentry stresses.
Next, they tackled a demanding climb up Mount Rainier in Washington, reaching base camp at high altitude. This tradition in astronaut training builds teamwork and resilience against unforeseen challenges, fostering essential crew cohesion.
The team then convened at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, to get hands-on with their spacecraft. Though the flight is fully autonomous, pilot Sian Proctor trained to handle any contingencies.
With four months until liftoff in September, training continues. Commander Jared Isaacman and pilot Sian Proctor will log jet flight hours, mirroring NASA astronauts' T-38 requirements. This mission draws directly from professional astronaut protocols.
