SpaceX Announces all-Civilian Crew for Orbital Flight

SpaceX will add a dome window to their Crew Dragon. (SpaceX)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Four non-astronauts were introduced to the public on Tuesday as the first all-civilian space crew selected to spend three days in Earth orbit this autumn.

Businessman and jet pilot Jared "Rook" Isaacman will lead the rookie crew. A physician's assistant Hayley Arceneaux, geoscientist and pilot Dr. Sian Proctor, and former Air Force airman Chris Sembroski round out the crew.

Dr. Proctor, 51, will become the first woman of color to pilot an American space flight. She will be only the third American woman to pilot a space craft.

The crew is scheduled to lift-off a top reflown Falcon 9 booster on September 15 aboard the Crew Dragon known as Resilience. The Inspiration 4 crew will lift-off from historic launch pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center.

Resilience to Travel Higher with a New Dome Window

Unlike recent Crew Dragon flights, this one will not dock to the International Space Station. Instead, its mission is to orbit the Earth at a high point of 540 km (335 miles) in a 51.6 degree inclination.

This voyage will mark Resilience's second space flight, having flown during the current Crew One mission to the space station. This Crew Dragon is scheduled to splashdown on April 28 off the coast of Florida.

In June, Resilience's docking hatch will be removed and a glass dome will be installed. This will provide a 360-degree view of the universe for the crew.

“Inspiration4’s goal is to inspire humanity to support St. Jude here on earth while also seeing new possibilities for human spaceflight,” Mission commander Isaacman said. “ Each of these outstanding crew members embodies the best of humanity, and I am humbled to lead them on this historic and purposeful mission and the adventure of a lifetime.”

Four Non-Astronauts to Undertake Historic Flight

Issacman, 38, flew at air shows during the early-2000s as part of the Black Diamond Jet Team. He also co-founded Draken International to train pilots for the United States Armed Forces.Dr. Sian Proctor's father worked at the Guam spaceflight tracking network during NASA's Apollo space missions. She is a trained pilot and will serve as the mission's pilot who will also back-up the commander.

"It is such an honor to be apart of the Inspiration 4 crew, and to go on this journey," Dr. Proctor said on Tuesday. "I am so thankful and appreciative to be able to share my inspiration and my goal of prosperity through creativity with all of you."

Hayley Arceneaux will serve as a mission specialist aboard the Crew Dragon. A cancer survivor, today Hayley works at St. Jude – the very place that saved her life – as a PA with leukemia and lymphoma patients.

The newly announced crew of SpaceX Inspiration4 Earth orbital flight. (SpaceX)

"It’s an incredible honor to be a part of this mission," Arceneaux said. "Not only raising crucial funds for the lifesaving work of St. Jude, but also introducing new supporters to the cause and showing cancer survivors that anything is possible."

Chris Sembroski served as a U.S. Space Camp counselor before earning a B.S. in Professional Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle. He will serve as a mission specialist during the flight.

“Although I’ve been fortunate to have spent years in the aerospace industry, I never imagined having the opportunity to reach the stars,” Sembroski said. “I am honored and look forward to using this platform to encourage everyone to be generous to others in whatever ways they are able.”

The crew members will begin formal training with SpaceX on Wednesday. Once Resilience is refurbished for this flight, a formal launch date will be announced.

(Charles A Atkeison reports on aerospace and technology. Follow his updates via social media @AbsolutSpaceGuy.)