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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying four space tourists blasted off Wednesday night from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the first mission to orbit the globe with an all-civilian crew. A huge fireball illuminated the sky as the rocket’s nine engines began to pull away from Earth at 8:02 pm (0002 GMT Thursday). Around 12 minutes later, the Dragon capsule separated from the rocket’s send stage as the crew entered orbit, while the re-usable first stage made its way back to Earth for a vertical landing on a sea barge. “A few have gone before and many are about to follow,” said Jared Isaacman, the 38-year-old billionaire who chartered the flight. The spaceship’s trajectory will take it to an altitude of 357 miles (575 kilometers), which is deeper into space than the International Space Station (ISS). After spending three days spinning around the planet, the four-person crew, all Americans, will splash down off the Florida coast. “The #Inspiration4 launch reminds us of …

The quartet of newly minted citizen astronauts comprising the SpaceX Inspiration4 mission safely splashed down in the Atlantic off Florida's coast on Saturday, completing a three-day flight of the first all-civilian crew ever launched into Earth orbit. SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule, dubbed Resilience, parachuted into calm seas around 7 p.m. EDT, shortly before sunset, following an automated re-entry descent, SpaceX showed during a live webcast on its YouTube channel. Within an hour the four smiling crew members were seen emerging one by one from the capsule's side hatch after the vehicle, visibly scorched on its exterior, was hoisted from the ocean to the deck of a SpaceX recovery vessel. Each of the four stood on the deck for a few moments in front of the capsule to wave and give thumbs-up to the cameras. Each was then escorted to a medical station onboard for checkups they were to undergo at sea. Afterward, the amateur astronauts were to be flown by helicopter back to Cape …

‘Many will follow’ : SpaceX sends all-civilian crew into orbit

SpaceX capsule with world’s first all-civilian orbital crew splashes down off Florida