Published 20:15 IST, February 22nd 2021
Cancer survivor Hayley Arceneaux to join billionaire Jared Isaacman on SpaceX flight
Bone cancer survivor Hayley Arceneaux will join billionaire Jared Isaacman on SpaceX's first all-civilian mission into Earth's orbit, according to AP.
Bone cancer survivor Hayley Arceneaux will join billionaire Jared Isaacman on SpaceX's first all-civilian mission into Earth's orbit. According to Associated Press, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital announced on February 22 that the 29-year-old physician assistant will launch later this year alongside Isaacman who is using his purchased spaceflight as a charitable fundraiser. Arceneaux will become the youngest American in space when she blasts off this fall. She will be beating NASA record-holder Sally Ride by over two years.
Arceneaux will also be the first to launch with a prosthesis. She informed that when she was 10, she had surgery at St. Jude to replace her knee and get a titanium rod in her left thigh bone. Even though she still limps and suffers occasional leg pain, the doctors have cleared her for flight by SpaceX. Arceneaux will serve as the crew’s medical officer.
“My battle with cancer really prepared me for space travel. It made me tough, and then also I think it really taught me to expect the unexpected and go along for the ride,” Arceneaux said.
She added that she wants to show her young patients and other cancer survivors that “the sky is not even the limit anymore”. “It’s going to mean so much to these kids to see a survivor in space,” she said.
The 29-year-old was at home in Memphis, Tennessee, when she got the “out of the blue” call in January asking if she’d represent St. Jude in space. Her immediate response: “Yes! Yes! Please!” Isaacman, who flies fighter jets for a hobby, considers her a perfect fit.
Isaacman pledges $200 million for St. Jude
Meanwhile, Isaacman announced his space mission on February 1 and he pledged to raise $200 million for St. Jude. As the flight’s self-appointed commander, the billionaire offered one of the four SpaceX Dragon capsule seats to St. Jude. The Staff at the hospital then chose Arceneaux from among the “scores” of hospital and fundraising employees who had once been patients and could represent the next generation.
According to AP, the second seat will be drawn from those who enter the raffle and are encouraged to donate to the hospital. A third will be picked by a panel of judges from entrepreneurs who use an e-commerce tool from Isaacman’s company, Shift4 Payments. According to the website dedicated to the mission, all three crew members will receive commercial astronaut training by SpaceX on the Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft, as well as orbital mechanics and stress testing, including operating micro- or zero gravity.
Updated 20:15 IST, February 22nd 2021