SpaceX pilot calls trip 'best ride' of her life after 1st all-civilian flight returns home

The Dragon spacecraft of SpaceX Inspiration4 with an "all-civilian crew" has finally landed on earth. According to SpaceX, the Dragon spacecraft splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida at 7:06 pm EDT on Saturday, September 18. Dr Sian Proctor, the mission pilot, geoscientist and professor thanked Elon Musk, SpaceX, Inspiration4x and called it the "best ride" of her life.

Taking to Twitter, Dr Sian Proctor wrote, "Best ride of my life! Thank you @SpaceX and @elonmusk @inspiration4x. While responding to the video of first all-civilian human spaceflight to orbit shared by SpaceX, she said, "Nothing but #gratitude!! Thank you to everyone who helped make our mission success and supported us through this historic journey". In her tweet, she tagged Inspiration4x and SpaceX. Proctor, who is a geoscientist and professor, was one of four people in the first-ever all-civilian spaceflight. In another tweet, she posted her image while leaving the Dragon spacecraft, she said, “We did it!!”

Mission pilot calls it the "best ride"

The Dragon spacecraft was launched on September 15 from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. After three days orbiting Earth, the Dragon spacecraft landed on Saturday, September 18 in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 7:06 p.m. EDT. The four astronauts present in the spacecraft included Jared Isaacman, founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments followed by a health care worker Hayley Arceneaux, a female astronaut Dr Sian Proctor and Chris Sembroski, who works in the aerospace industry. A video was also shared by SpaceX on their official Twitter handle showing the historic landing at the Atlantic Ocean. Inspiration4 also shared several pictures of the Dragon capsule on Twitter.  According to SpaceX, Dragon has performed a series of departure phasing burns to leave the circular orbit of 575 kilometres. After re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere, the spacecraft deployed its two drogue and four main parachutes in preparation for the soft water landing.

Image: DrSianProctor/Twitter