Bone Cancer Survivor to Join First Private SpaceX Flight

Inspiration4, the world’s first all-civilian mission to space, has announced bone cancer survivor Hayley Arceneaux will join the crew.

The 29-year-old physician assistant at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital was treated as a child for bone cancer at St. Jude. Arceneaux joins Inspiration4 mission commander Jared Isaacman. She will occupy the mission seat representing Hope.

“It’s an incredible honor to join the Inspiration4 crew. This seat represents the hope that St. Jude gave me and continues to give families from around the world, who, like me, find hope when they walk through the doors of St. Jude,” said Arceneaux.

“When I was just 10 years old, St. Jude gave me the opportunity to grow up. Now I am fulfilling my dreams of working at the research hospital and traveling around the world. It’s incredible to be a part of this mission that is not only raising crucial funds for the lifesaving work of St. Jude but also introducing new supporters to the mission and showing

cancer survivors that anything is possible.”

Isaacman, the 38-year-old founder and chief executive officer of Shift4 Payments and an accomplished pilot, donated two of the four seats on Inspiration4 to St. Jude, including the seat filled by Arceneaux. The mission name Inspiration4 recognizes the four-person crew’s purpose – to send a humanitarian message of possibility and inspire support for St. Jude – and represents the pillars of Leadership, Hope, Generosity and Prosperity.

“Assembling a unique and diverse crew whose personal stories and values will inspire people everywhere is at the heart of the Inspiration4 mission,” said Isaacman.

“As I’ve spent time with Hayley in the earliest days of mission prep, she’s everything we want our team to represent – she’s interested in the world around her, devoted to caring for others and hopeful for a better future for all of us. She already inspires me, and I’m certain she’ll inspire many others as they get to know her in the course of our mission.”

Isaacman has committed to give $100 million to St. Jude and is inviting everyone to join him in support of St. Jude’s multi-billion-dollar expansion designed to accelerate research advancements and save more children worldwide.

Arceneaux, Isaacman and the Inspiration4 crew will undergo commercial astronaut training by SpaceX on the Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft, including a specific focus on orbital mechanics, operating in microgravity, zero gravity, and other forms of stress testing.

The mission will launch from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and will be carefully monitored at every step by SpaceX mission control as the spacecraft orbits the planet every 90 minutes along a customized flight path.

Upon conclusion of the multi-day journey, Dragon will reenter Earth’s atmosphere for a soft water landing off the coast of Florida.

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