(09-18-2021, 09:43 PM)homebiscuit Wrote: They did it. SpaceX sent four civilians to space for 3 days and returned them safely. I'm a little surprised this isn't covered more in the news, but it just shows how routine space flight is becoming. These aren't highly trained astronauts either, but civilians with one (the billionaire who paid for it) being an experienced pilot. Beyond that, they received a relative cursory training cycle of six months for contingency events. The flight was fully automated.  

Btw, this wasn't some quick 15 minute jaunt just above the Karman line like Bezos and Branson did. These folks were not only in orbit, but they went unusually high, around 360 miles. Considering the ISS orbits at 240 and the Hubble at around 340, this was way up there. 

Good job, SpaceX. 

SpaceX's private Inspiration4 crew returns to Earth with historic splashdown off Florida coast | Space