<p>SpaceX's all-civilian Inspiration4 crew spent their first day in orbit conducting scientific research and talking to children at a pediatric cancer hospital, after blasting off on their pioneering mission from Cape Canaveral the night before.</p>.<p>St Jude tweeted its patients got to speak with the four American space tourists, "asking the questions we all want to know like 'are there cows on the Moon?'"</p>.<p>Billionaire Jared Isaacman, who chartered the flight, is trying to raise $200 million for the research facility.</p>.<p>Inspiration4 is the first orbital spaceflight with only private citizens aboard.</p>.<p>Earlier, Elon Musk's company tweeted that the four were "healthy" and "happy," had completed their first round of scientific research, and enjoyed a couple of meals.</p>.<p>Musk himself tweeted that he had personally spoken with the crew and "all is well."</p>.<p>By now, they should have also been able to gaze out from the Dragon ship's cupola -- the largest space window ever built, which has been fitted onto the vessel for the first time in place of its usual docking mechanism.</p>.<p>The Inspiration4 mission also brings the total number of humans currently in space to 14 -- a new record. In 2009, there were 13 people on the International Space Station (ISS).</p>.<p><strong>Also read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/meet-the-first-all-civilian-space-crew-on-trip-to-orbit-1030856.html" target="_blank">Meet the first all-civilian space crew on trip to orbit</a></strong></p>.<p>There are currently seven people aboard the ISS, including two Russian cosmonauts, and three Chinese astronauts on spaceship Shenzhou-12, which is bound home after its crew spent 90 days at the Tiangong space station.</p>.<p>Isaacman, physician assistant Hayley Arceneaux, geoscientist Sian Proctor and aerospace data engineer Chris Sembroski are whizzing around the planet at an altitude that at times reaches 590 kilometers (367 miles).</p>.<p>That is deeper in space than the ISS, which orbits at 420 kilometers (260 miles), and the furthest any humans have ventured since a 2009 maintenance mission for the Hubble telescope.</p>.<p>Their ship is moving at about 17,500 mph (28,000 kph) and each day they will experience about 15 sunrises and sunsets.</p>.<p>Their high speed means they are experiencing time slightly slower than people on the surface, because of a phenomenon called "relative velocity time dilation."</p>.<p>Apart from fundraising for charity, the mission aims to study the biological effects of deep space on the astronauts' bodies.</p>.<p>"Missions like Inspiration4 help advance spaceflight to enable ultimately anyone to go to orbit & beyond," added Musk in a tweet.</p>.<p>The space adventure bookends a summer marked by the battle of the billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos to reach the final frontier.</p>.<p>But these flights only offered a few minutes of weightlessness -- rather than the three full days of orbit the Inspiration4 crew will experience, before splashing down off the coast of Florida on Saturday.</p>.<p><strong>Check out latest videos from <i data-stringify-type="italic">DH</i>:</strong></p>
<p>SpaceX's all-civilian Inspiration4 crew spent their first day in orbit conducting scientific research and talking to children at a pediatric cancer hospital, after blasting off on their pioneering mission from Cape Canaveral the night before.</p>.<p>St Jude tweeted its patients got to speak with the four American space tourists, "asking the questions we all want to know like 'are there cows on the Moon?'"</p>.<p>Billionaire Jared Isaacman, who chartered the flight, is trying to raise $200 million for the research facility.</p>.<p>Inspiration4 is the first orbital spaceflight with only private citizens aboard.</p>.<p>Earlier, Elon Musk's company tweeted that the four were "healthy" and "happy," had completed their first round of scientific research, and enjoyed a couple of meals.</p>.<p>Musk himself tweeted that he had personally spoken with the crew and "all is well."</p>.<p>By now, they should have also been able to gaze out from the Dragon ship's cupola -- the largest space window ever built, which has been fitted onto the vessel for the first time in place of its usual docking mechanism.</p>.<p>The Inspiration4 mission also brings the total number of humans currently in space to 14 -- a new record. In 2009, there were 13 people on the International Space Station (ISS).</p>.<p><strong>Also read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/meet-the-first-all-civilian-space-crew-on-trip-to-orbit-1030856.html" target="_blank">Meet the first all-civilian space crew on trip to orbit</a></strong></p>.<p>There are currently seven people aboard the ISS, including two Russian cosmonauts, and three Chinese astronauts on spaceship Shenzhou-12, which is bound home after its crew spent 90 days at the Tiangong space station.</p>.<p>Isaacman, physician assistant Hayley Arceneaux, geoscientist Sian Proctor and aerospace data engineer Chris Sembroski are whizzing around the planet at an altitude that at times reaches 590 kilometers (367 miles).</p>.<p>That is deeper in space than the ISS, which orbits at 420 kilometers (260 miles), and the furthest any humans have ventured since a 2009 maintenance mission for the Hubble telescope.</p>.<p>Their ship is moving at about 17,500 mph (28,000 kph) and each day they will experience about 15 sunrises and sunsets.</p>.<p>Their high speed means they are experiencing time slightly slower than people on the surface, because of a phenomenon called "relative velocity time dilation."</p>.<p>Apart from fundraising for charity, the mission aims to study the biological effects of deep space on the astronauts' bodies.</p>.<p>"Missions like Inspiration4 help advance spaceflight to enable ultimately anyone to go to orbit & beyond," added Musk in a tweet.</p>.<p>The space adventure bookends a summer marked by the battle of the billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos to reach the final frontier.</p>.<p>But these flights only offered a few minutes of weightlessness -- rather than the three full days of orbit the Inspiration4 crew will experience, before splashing down off the coast of Florida on Saturday.</p>.<p><strong>Check out latest videos from <i data-stringify-type="italic">DH</i>:</strong></p>