Cancer survivor Hayley Arceneaux to be the youngest American ever in space
Hayley Arceneaux, a bone cancer survivor and physician assistant at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital based in Memphis, Tennessee became the newest crew member of SpaceX’s Inspiration 4.
Twenty-nine-year-old Hayley Arceneaux is all set to join the first ever all-civilian mission to space as one of the four crew members of SpaceX’s Inspiration 4.
Jared Isaacman, Founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, is also an accomplished pilot and will command the mission. He has donated the remaining three seats representing mission pillars of leadership, hope, prosperity, and generosity.
Welcoming bone cancer survivor Hayley Arceneaux who will occupy the seat of hope, Jared tweeted, “Meet commercial astronaut Hayley Arceneaux. She is an amazing person & I know she will be an inspiration to people all over the world. Not just those with dreams of going to space, but to all people who need hope when encountering life challenges.”
The billionaire tech entrepreneur is not wrong. As the newest crew member, Hayley is set to be the first youngest American ever, the first bone cancer survivor, and a person with prosthetic leg bones to achieve the feat.
Hayley was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 10 at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital where she now serves as a frontline worker as a physician assistant. Her message is to convey that even sky is not the limit and one can do anything, she said during media interactions.
"It's an incredible honour 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,” Hayley said.
The duo will be joined by two contest winners who will occupy two remaining seats that represent generosity and prosperity.
Two contest winners will occupy the remaining seats of the mission.
Prior to the rocket’s planned take-off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida towards the end of 2021, Elon Musk’s SpaceX stated that crew members will be trained as commercial astronauts and go through emergency preparedness training as well as partial and full mission simulations, among other necessities.