A businessman with a lot of money left over, a computer engineer, a medical assistant and a geology professor.

This is what the crew called Inspiration4 looks like, which tonight 02.02 Swedish time will take off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

They are the first civilians to be in the Earth's orbit.

So far, space travel has been reserved for professional astronauts, wealthy individuals or people in the entertainment industry.

Also this time, a person with a lot of money comes along: Jared Isaacman, founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, which handles payments to restaurants and other businesses.

He is also the one who pays for the whole trip.

Got the place from his friend

The other three seats on the space shuttle were given away by Jared Isaacman in various ways.

Computer engineer Chris Sembroski, 42, got his ticket on detours via a Super Bowl commercial where he was asked to donate a sum to St.

Jude's Children's Hospital for a chance to win a space trip.

Chris Sembroski took part in the competition - but did not win.

However, his friend who decided to give the place to Chris won.

- I not only feel very happy to be here, but I also feel a great responsibility to do something in return and show the same generosity towards others, he says.

Survived bone cancer

Hayley Arceneaux, 29, got her place through her job as a medical assistant at St Jude's Children's Hospital.

She has survived bone cancer and will be the first person with a prosthesis in space.

Sian Proctor, 51, won her place through an entrepreneurial competition.

She is a professor of geology and has previously invested in a career as an astronaut, but fell on the finish line in NASA's final selection.

No longer a "playground for the rich"

Jared Isaacman has not revealed how much the space trip will cost.

Only that it will cost less than the $ 200 million he hopes to raise for St. Louis.

Jude's Children's Hospital through space travel.

Timiebi Aganaba, a space expert and professor at Arizona State University, says the three "ordinary" people in the crew are a stark contrast to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' space trip.

- People may think that "space is just a playground for the rich".

"Now we have three very ordinary people on board, and they will show us what it means to open this up," she told the New York Times.