TO INFINITY...

SpaceX Launches History-Making All-Amateur Flight Into Space

The four civilians blasted off Wednesday night on the fully automated Dragon capsule for what is planned as three days in orbit.

SpaceX made history Wednesday night with the launch of a private space flight made up of four amateurs. Inside the fully automated Dragon capsule were two winners of a contest, a healthcare worker, the billionaire who sponsored them—and no professional astronauts. Billionaire Jared Isaacman, physician assistant Hayley Arceneaux, and contest winners Chris Sembroski and Sian Proctor, who spent six months training for the flight, blasted off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center and planned to spend three days in orbit. The flight is SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s first foray into space tourism after Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson took quick flights into space over the summer.