This coming October, four civilians are expected to launch a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on top of a Falcon 9 rocket. The mission will be ordered by the 38-year-old Jared Isaacman, a skilled pilot and the founder and CEO of Shift4Payments, a credit card processing company. Three other citizens will join the entrepreneur in this groundbreaking mission, the first of which was recently confirmed.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital on Monday revealed in an announcement that 29-year-old medical assistant and cancer survivor Hayley Arceneaux is joining Isaacman as medical officer of the crew. Provided the mission goes through, Arceneaux would be the youngest person in history to go to space. She would also be the first person to start a prosthesis, a reminder of her previous battle with cancer.
Meet the commercial astronaut Hayley Arceneaux. She is an amazing person and I know she will be an inspiration to people around the world 🌍. Not just those w / dreams to go after, but also to all people who need hope when they experience life challenges. Hayley, welcome to @ inspiration4x pic.twitter.com/t02LFuU7mm
– Jared Isaacman (@rookisaacman) 22 February 2021
Arceneaux was 10 when she was in St. Louis. Jude underwent surgery to replace her knee and get a titanium rod in her left leg bone. While still limping and sometimes suffering from leg pain, SpaceX cleared for flight. Talk to The Associated Press, she noted that her battle with cancer has really prepared her for the challenges of space travel.
‘My battle with cancer has really prepared me for space travel. It made me tough, and then I think it really taught me to expect the unexpected and ride along, ” she said, adding that through the Inspiration4 mission she seeks to prove to young patients and other cancer survivors that the sky is not even the border anymore. ”
“It’s going to mean so much to these children to see a survivor in space,” Arceneaux notes.
Represents the mission pillar of Hope, # Inspiration4 appointed its first crew member – a cancer survivor and medical assistant in @StJude. Generosity and Prosperity seats remain open until 28/28. Visit https://t.co/ECwhGyITJ2 for more information. https://t.co/QTkPvgn3EV pic.twitter.com/S7wYViXTLg
– Inspiration4 (@ inspiration4x) 22 February 2021
Inspiration4 was announced on February 1 by Isaacman, along with the promise of $ 200 million for St. To raise Jude, half of whom would come from his personal contribution. As the mission commander, the founder and CEO of Shift4Payments prefers to offer one of the four Crew Dragon capsule seats for St. Jude. Rick Shadyac, president of the fundraising organization of St. Jude, noted that Arceneaux was selected from a number of hospitals and fundraisers that were previously patients and could effectively represent the next generation.
According to the Inspiration4 mission’s website, the crew will conduct experiments in the space designed to expand humanity’s knowledge of the universe. The Dragon’s 365-pound cargo capacity will be allocated for both crew members and scientific equipment dedicated to experimenting with microgravity. The aim of the mission is to allocate the maximum possible mass to its research objectives, which should provide access to space for inspiring projects that ‘otherwise cannot overcome the high barriers of traditional space-based research’. The crew will probably spend about 2-4 days in the orbit of the earth.
With two of the crew members of Inspiration4 now determined, the hunt continues for the occupants of Crew Dragon’s two remaining seats. Isaacman, in turn, noted that he plans to announce the last two crew members of the civilian space mission sometime in March. Lifting is expected around October at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
Watch Hayley Arceneaux’s interview with NBC NEWS TODAY in the video below.
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