The stars are constantly in line for Hayley Arceneaux, who grew up to be a doctor’s assistant in pediatric oncology in St. Louis after battling bone cancer at age 10. Jude’s Children’s Hospital – the same facility where she was treated.
As if that was not reason enough to thank her lucky stars, Arceneaux, who is now 29, was beaten by the St. Jude personnel selected from hundreds of other employees to represent the famous hospital on the very first civilian spaceflight, organized by SpaceX, will take place at the end of 2021.
Inspiration4 is a private, multi-day sightseeing and research trip to low-earth orbit purchased by Jared Isaacman – CEO of payment processing company Shift4Payments – as a major fundraiser for St. Jude’s.
Four seats will be available in the Dragon Capsule, which symbolically represents four pillars, of which Arceneaux will be the mainstay of hope for obvious reasons. The other two seats have not yet been awarded, but one goes to a participant in the draw who donated a certain amount to St. Jude’s donated, and the other to a random business owner who uses Isaacman’s payment service.
“My battle with cancer has really prepared me for space travel,” Arceneaux said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It made me tough, and then I think it really taught me to expect the unexpected and ride along.”
Arceneaux hopes to provide for the children of St. Jude to show that ‘the sky is not even the limit anymore’ and told AP: ‘it’s going to mean so much to these kids to see a survivor in space.’
When the team is finally put together, it will receive rigorous training in everything needed to work in the unique conditions of space, as well as the aspects of the SpaceX Dragon capsule.
A series of firsts
As with most space flights, Arceneaux will set up a series of firsts; becomes both the youngest American woman and the youngest American to leave Earth – surpassing Sally Ride who was 32 when she embarked on a spaceflight in 1983.
She will also be the first American astronaut with a prosthesis. During the battle with bone cancer, she had to undergo surgery on her knee. Her thighbone now contains a titanium rod, and there is still occasional pain.
Inspiration4 is also the first fully civilian spaceflight, as well as the very first privately chartered spaceflight. Isaacman announces the mission on Feb. 1, saying he hopes to raise $ 200 million for St. To raise Jews – $ 100 million from his own fortune.
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‘Since I spent time with Hayley preparing for the mission, she is everything our team wants to represent – she is interested in the world around her, is committed to caring for others and hopes for a better future for us. everyone, ”Isaacman said in a statement. “She’s already inspired me, and I’m sure she’s going to inspire a lot of others if they get to know her in the course of our mission.”
Several reports say that Arceneaux – Memphis, a native of Tennessee and a great enthusiast for spatial exploration – was at home when she received the call “out of the blue” from St. Jude got.
NPR says she first passed the idea on to her mother, as well as her brother and sister-in-law, who are both aviation engineers. They assured her how safe the spaceflight was.
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“It’s an incredible honor to join the Inspiration4 crew,” Arceneaux said. ‘This seat represents the hope that Sint jude gave me – and continues to give to families from all over the world, who like me find hope as they through the doors of Sint jude. ”
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