posted 02-01-2021 08:45 PM               

SpaceX: Pledge for a patch, win a seat on first all-civilian spaceflight

Now, with the simple purchase of a souvenir space patch, you could be added to the crew of the same mission that that emblem represents — the first all-civilian crew to launch into Earth orbit.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Jared Isaacman, the billionaire founder of the online credit card processing company Shift4 Payments, revealed their plans for the Inspiration4 mission on Monday (Feb. 1), which is targeted to take four people on a multi-day trip around the planet before the end of the year. Collecting the patch and other mission-branded memorabilia is one of ways that the public can enter to win a seat on the mission.

posted 02-22-2021 07:46 AM               

World's First All-Civilian Mission to Space, Inspiration4, Names Second Crew Member

Hayley Arceneaux, physician assistant at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and pediatric cancer survivor, to represent Hope on historic flight

Two remaining seats on mission still available to the general public until February 28

Inspiration4, the world's first all-civilian mission to space, has announced its second crew member, Hayley Arceneaux of Memphis, Tennessee, a 29-year-old physician assistant at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital who 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 [NYSE: FOUR] 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. The fundraising effort will continue through the mission launch later this year.

"It has been a personal honor to watch Hayley grow up and fulfill her dreams. As a patient, an intern at ALSAC, and then in the Pediatric Oncology Education program at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, she was always a rising star," said Richard C. Shadyac Jr., President and CEO of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude. "From the beginning, St. Jude has been at the forefront of innovation and inclusion, leading in cancer research, and treatment for some of the world's sickest children regardless of race, ethnicity, or a family's ability to pay, so that children like Hayley can live full, healthy and awe-inspiring lives. She will be an incredible ambassador through this mission and inspiration to children fighting cancer and survivors worldwide."

The mission is being targeted for the fourth quarter of this year. 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. They will receive emergency preparedness training, spacesuit and spacecraft ingress and egress exercises, as well as partial- and full-mission simulations. 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.

The remaining two seats representing Generosity and Prosperity are available to the general public through February 28, with details available at the mission website, Inspiration4.com. The Generosity crew seat can be secured by a member of the public who enters for an opportunity to join the flight to space. The Prosperity seat is available to any deserving entrepreneur who utilizes the new Shift4Shop eCommerce platform to submit their idea and be selected by a panel of distinguished judges. The Shift4Shop platform is designed to empower entrepreneurs to build and grow successful eCommerce businesses.

posted 02-24-2021 09:54 AM               

Inspiration4 Reveals Panel of Influential Judges to Select Entrepreneur to Join First All-Civilian Mission to Space

Customers utilizing the Shift4Shop eCommerce platform will compete to represent the mission pillar of Prosperity

Inspiration4, the world's first all-civilian mission to space, today announced the independent panel of judges tasked with helping select a deserving entrepreneur to join the historic mission's four-person crew later this year. The mission will be commanded by Jared Isaacman, the founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments and an accomplished pilot and adventurer and is built on four mission pillars of Leadership, Hope, Generosity and Prosperity. The chosen entrepreneur will represent the mission pillar of prosperity.

The judges panel will review the top entries of the Shift4Shop social media contest, open through the end of February, to identify a business owner or entrepreneur that exhibits ingenuity, innovation, and determination to join the crew of Inspiration4.

"As an entrepreneur who started Shift4 decades ago, I know how much risk, talent and effort it takes to launch a business and drive its success," said Isaacman. "One of the things that has helped me in my career is making sure I am working with the best people possible, which is why I want to make sure we work with the right judges to select the best fit possible for the Prosperity seat. The caliber and resumes of the four judges helping us select this seat have transformed industries and driven innovation on a number of fronts, and I could not think of a better team to help us find the best person to help us make history."

Isaacman continued: "Shift4Shop's unprecedented competition offers the greatest chance to earn a seat aboard Inspiration4. We are incredibly excited to combine a unique outlet for the entrepreneurial spirit in all of us with the best opportunity for a lucky innovator to travel with us to the stars."

Shift4Shop is an all-in-one eCommerce platform that eschews the tiered billing model used by other platforms, instead providing an enterprise-level solution completely free of charge when customers use the company's payment processing services. This model is unique to the industry and delivers customers significant savings over competing eCommerce platforms that charge monthly hosting fees and various add-on costs. In fact, competitors offering similar functionality often charge $300 or more per month for the same capabilities that Shift4Shop provides for free. Shift4Shop offers dozens of professionally designed, industry-specific website templates that are mobile-friendly, search engine optimized and highly customizable to meet the unique needs of every business. The turnkey offering also includes hundreds of valuable features such as product and order management, customer marketing tools, and more. For businesses that already have a website on another platform, Shift4Shop makes it easy to switch with free migration assistance including custom web design.

Any current or new Shift4Shop customer is eligible for this one-of-a-kind opportunity to enter an online competition showcasing them and their business. To enter, businesses simply need to launch an online store with Shift4Shop, then post a short video on Twitter about their entrepreneurial story including a link to their Shift4Shop website and the hashtag #Inspiration4contest. After the contest closes, one Shift4Shop customer will be selected by the judging panel to represent the mission pillar of Prosperity aboard Inspiration4 when it launches in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The judging panel includes four well-known voices in the world of business and entrepreneurship who have exemplified ingenuity, innovation, and determination in their careers:

• Marc Benioff

  Marc Benioff is Chair, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Salesforce and a pioneer of cloud computing. Under Benioff's leadership, Salesforce is the #1 provider of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software globally. Benioff founded Salesforce in 1999, and it is now a Fortune 500 company with more than 54,000 employees, guided by four core values — trust, customer success, innovation and equality. The company has been recognized as the Most Innovative Company by Forbes, a Best Place to Work by Fortune, and the 10th Most Admired Company in the World by Fortune. Benioff was named "Innovator of the Decade" by Forbes and is recognized as one of the World's 25 Greatest Leaders by Fortune, one of the 10 Best-Performing CEOs by Harvard Business Review and as the CNN Business CEO of 2020. For his leadership on equality, Benioff has been honored by GLAAD, the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative and Variety Magazine with its EmPOWerment Award.

  Building a different kind of company, Benioff created Salesforce to not only develop great products, but also to have a positive impact on the world. On day 1, Benioff created the 1-1-1 model of philanthropy, which leverages the resources of Salesforce to improve communities around the world. Today, more than 10,000 companies have adopted the 1-1-1 model through the Pledge 1% movement.

• Stephanie Mehta

  Stephanie Mehta is the Editor-in-Chief of Fast Company, overseeing its print, digital and live journalism since 2018. She was previously a deputy editor at Vanity Fair, where she edited feature stories and coedited the annual New Establishment ranking. She also curated the invitation-only New Establishment Summit and Founders Fair conference for women entrepreneurs, which she launched in 2017.

  Prior to that, Mehta was an editor at Bloomberg Media and worked at Fortune for 14 years, rising from senior writer to deputy managing editor. She was also a staff reporter at The Wall Street Journal and began her career as a business reporter at The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Virginia.

• Mark Rober

  Mark Rober is an American YouTuber, engineer and inventor. He has the largest Science and educational YouTube channel with 16.7M subscribers while averaging 25M views per video. Before YouTube, Rober was an engineer with NASA for nine years where he spent seven of those years working on the Curiosity rover at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

  Rober later worked for four years at Apple Inc. as a product designer in their Special Projects Group, where he authored patents involving virtual reality in self-driving cars. In October 2019, Rober and fellow YouTuber MrBeast launched the #teamtrees environmental fundraiser where they planted over 20 million trees.

• Jon Taffer

  For nearly four decades, Jon Taffer has been at the forefront of the business management industry offering his expertise to thousands of hospitality and restaurant properties, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. He helped create what industry experts call "the greatest nightclub in the world," and the NFL "Sunday Ticket."

  As the creator, executive producer and star of Paramount Network's number-one show, Bar Rescue, Jon is best known to people as the larger-than-life television personality who takes a no-holds barred approach to helping hotels, restaurants, bars and businesses reach their full potential. He is also a New York Times best-selling author, highly sought-after hospitality and general business consultant and creator, and creator of Taffer's Tavern, a national franchise that launched in 2020.

posted 03-30-2021 08:35 AM               

Contest-winning crew members named for Inspiration4 all-civilian spaceflight

A former Space Camp counselor and an "analog astronaut" whose father tracked Apollo science experiments deployed on the moon have won seats on board the first all-civilian spaceflight, joining a billionaire and a physician assistant who survived cancer as a child.

Chris Sembroski and Sian Proctor were revealed on Tuesday (March 30) as the winners of a sweepstakes and a competition, respectively, that were held to fill the final two seats on the Inspiration4 mission. The two will launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule and orbit high above Earth together with Jared Isaacman, who is commanding and underwriting the cost of the mission, and Hayley Arceneaux, who was selected as an ambassador for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.

posted 08-30-2021 03:07 PM               

Inspiration4 Crew Will Conduct Health Research to Further Human Exploration of Space

Historic mission to advance science and medicine for human health during spaceflight

The crew of Inspiration4, the world's first all-civilian human spaceflight mission to orbit, announced today that they will partake in a first-of-its-kind health research initiative to increase humanity's knowledge on the impact of spaceflight on the human body. Once in orbit, the crew will perform carefully selected research experiments on human health and performance, which will have potential applications for human health on Earth and during future spaceflights. Additionally, SpaceX, the Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) at Baylor College of Medicine and investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine will collect environmental and biomedical data and biological samples from Inspiration4's four crew members before, during, and after this historic spaceflight.

"The crew of Inspiration4 is eager to use our mission to help make a better future for those who will launch in the years and decades to come," said Jared Isaacman, commander of the Inspiration4 mission. "In all of human history, fewer than 600 humans have reached space. We are proud that our flight will help influence all those who will travel after us and look forward to seeing how this mission will help shape the beginning of a new era for space exploration."

SpaceX, TRISH, and investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine aim to continue broadening access to space medicine research by making all biomedical data collected for the Inspiration4 mission accessible through an open data repository funded and overseen by TRISH that can be easily accessed for research purposes. Empowered by NASA's Human Research Program, TRISH is a virtual institute that finds and funds disruptive science and medical technology in order to reduce health and performance risks in space explorers. The Inspiration4 crew will conduct the following TRISH-sponsored research:

• Collect research-grade ECG activity, movement, sleep, heart rate and rhythm, blood oxygen saturation, cabin noise and light intensity.

• Perform a series of tests in the Cognition app designed to assess changes in behavioral and cognitive performance. This is the same app that is currently used by astronauts in NASA-funded research studies.

• Scan organ systems via a Butterfly IQ+ Ultrasound device, which is designed with artificial intelligence guidance for non-medical experts. Data collected will determine if non-medical experts can self-acquire clinical grade images without guidance from ground support and will provide a timeline of biological changes before and during spaceflight. This device is also currently being tested by astronauts on the International Space Station.

• Collect and test drops of blood during spaceflight for markers of immune function and inflammation using a state-of-the-art miniaturized device called the Vertical Flow Immunoassay (VFI).

• Use balance and perception tests pre-flight and immediately post-flight to measure sensorimotor adaptation during changes of gravity. These tests are currently performed by astronauts upon return from spaceflight.

• Archive, fully analyze, and share resulting biomedical samples and data in collaboration with investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine and research data in an open format database to enable greater collaborative research.

In addition, SpaceX is collaborating with investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine to perform a longitudinal, multi-omic analysis of the crew, including genome, epigenome, transcriptome, proteome, microbiome, metabolome, exosome, telomere, single-cell V(D)J immunophenotyping and epitope maps, and spatial transcriptome analysis. These samples and data will be added to a planned Biobank that will hold cryogenically-frozen samples and data from the Inspiration4 mission.

Investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine have worked closely with SpaceX's medical team on the Inspiration4 sample collection and aim to replicate many of the same protocols and experiments that were pioneered in the NASA Twins Study and the Biomolecular Sequencer Missions. WorldQuant is providing funding support for the work at Weill Cornell Medicine. The planned Biobank will hold aliquots of the human, microbial, and environmental specimens that are collected before, during, and after missions and enable long-term research and health monitoring for astronauts.

SpaceX is targeting September 15 for Falcon 9's launch of the Inspiration4 mission from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The three-day mission will target approximately a 575 km orbit, flying farther from Earth than any human spaceflight since the Hubble Space Telescope repair missions. Inspiration4's goal is to inspire humanity and raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Click here to join the St. Jude fundraising adventure.

posted 09-03-2021 11:22 AM               

Inspiration4 'Go' for First All-Civilian Orbital Mission to Space

Teams from SpaceX and Inspiration4 met yesterday [Sept. 2] at SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, California to evaluate the readiness of the Falcon 9 rocket, Dragon spacecraft, ground systems, recovery assets, crew training, and other key elements of SpaceX's human spaceflight system for Inspiration4 – the historic first all-civilian human spaceflight mission to orbit.

Upon conclusion of the Flight Readiness Review, teams are proceeding toward a targeted launch on Wednesday, September 15 UTC (September 14 EDT) from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A backup launch opportunity is available on Thursday, September 16 UTC (September 15 EDT). Both 24-hour launch windows start at 12:00 a.m. Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

Approximately three days before liftoff, SpaceX will narrow down the launch window to five hours based upon weather conditions at the launch site, along the ascent corridor, and at landing locations off the coasts of Florida for a safe return of the crew and splashdown a few days later.

The Inspiration4 crew – consisting of Mission Commander Jared Isaacman, Mission Pilot Dr. Sian Proctor, Medical Officer Hayley Arceneaux, and Mission Specialist Chris Sembroski – are scheduled to arrive in Florida on Thursday, September 9 to begin final preparations for their mission.

Since the March 2021 announcement, the Inspiration4 crew has focused extensively on mission training and preparation, spending the past six months completing a wide range of training activities including centrifuge training, Dragon simulations, observations of other SpaceX launch operations, Zero-G plane training, altitude training and additional classroom, simulation and medical testing. This focused preparation was essential in team development and being ready to execute their role as the first commercial crew to orbit the Earth.

posted 09-10-2021 10:46 AM               

Inspiration4 Crew Arrives in Florida, Targeting September 15 Launch

After completing their final day of astronaut training at SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, California on Wednesday, September 8, the crew of Inspiration4 arrived in Florida on Thursday, September 9, landing at Space Florida's Launch and Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center just before noon. Additionally, the Dragon spacecraft that the all-civilian crew will fly aboard was transported from its processing facility on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to SpaceX's hangar at Launch Complex 39A on Kennedy Space Center where it was mated with the Falcon 9 rocket ahead of an integrated static fire test targeted for this weekend and launch next week.

After arrival, the teams from SpaceX and Inspiration4 also met yesterday evening for a follow-on flight readiness review and an initial weather briefing. After evaluating the readiness of the Falcon 9 rocket, Dragon spacecraft, associated ground systems, recovery assets and other key elements of SpaceX's human spaceflight system, and the current weather forecasts of conditions at the launch site, along the ascent corridor, and at the landing locations off the coasts of Florida for a safe return of the crew a few days later, teams agreed to now target no earlier than 8:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, September 15 for liftoff. This will allow additional time for final preparations, vehicle checkouts and data reviews. SpaceX and Inspiration4 will narrow down the launch window to five hours approximately three days before liftoff.

posted 09-12-2021 06:44 PM               

Weather Conditions 70% Favorable for Launch of Inspiration4 on Wednesday, September 15

Teams from SpaceX and Inspiration4 are now targeting a five-hour launch window for the Inspiration4 mission opening at 8:02 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, September 15. If needed for any reason, a backup window is available opening at 8:05 p.m. EDT on Thursday, September 16.

Teams selected the five-hour launch window based upon weather forecasts for the launch site, along the ascent corridor, and possible landing locations off the coasts of Florida for a safe return of the crew and splashdown a few days later. The latest forecast from the U.S. Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron predicts a 70% chance of favorable conditions for liftoff at the launch complex.

SpaceX and the crew of Inspiration4 are conducting dry dress – a full rehearsal of launch day activities – tonight followed by a static fire test of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle. Activity in advance of launch has been picking up with the crew's last day of training in Hawthorne on Wednesday, arrival in Florida on Thursday, and several payload announcements, as well as Dragon's mate with Falcon 9 and roll to vertical on the pad at historic Launch Pad 39A.

posted 09-13-2021 08:58 AM               

Static fire test of Falcon 9 complete – targeting Wednesday, September 15 for launch of Dragon's first all-civilian human spaceflight. The 5-hour launch window opens at 8:02 p.m. EDT.

posted 09-15-2021 07:34 PM               

Inspiration4 'all-civilian' crew launches on privately-funded Earth orbit mission

The first space mission to be crewed by all amateur astronauts is now underway, orbiting high above Earth with the goal of inspiring the world below.

Inspiration4 lifted off on Wednesday (Sept. 15) with billionaire Jared Isaacman commanding a crew of three, including medical officer Hayley Arceneaux, a cancer survivor and physician's assistant; pilot Sian Proctor, a geoscientist and science communicator; and mission specialist Chris Sembroski, a data engineer. Dubbed the first "all-civilian" crew, the planned three-day mission is being entirely funded by Isaacman, with Sembroski and Proctor selected through competitions and Arceneaux representing her employer and the flight's benefactor, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

posted 09-16-2021 01:41 PM               

The Inspiration4 crew is healthy, happy, and resting comfortably. Before the crew went to bed, they traveled 5.5 times around Earth, completed their first round of scientific research, and enjoyed a couple of meals.

After the crew wakes up today, they will conduct additional research and get their first look out of Dragon's cupola!

Dragon continues to remain in its intended target orbit, with altitudes as high as 590km above the Earth's surface.

posted 09-16-2021 11:33 PM               

The crew of Inspiration4 had an incredible first day in space! They've completed more than 15 orbits around planet Earth since liftoff and made full use of the Dragon cupola.

posted 09-17-2021 06:43 PM               

The Inspiration4 crew is set to return to Earth on Saturday, September 18 with a targeted splashdown at 7:06 p.m. EDT in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida.

Dragon will perform two burns tonight to reduce the spacecraft's altitude to about 365 km and line up the ground track with the landing site.

• Dragon's first burn to reduce the spacecraft's altitude is complete.

• Second burn complete. Dragon and the Inspiration4 crew are now in the targeted 365 km orbit.

posted 09-18-2021 11:18 AM               

Crew of Inspiration4 taking in the views from Dragon's cupola observation dome.

posted 09-18-2021 06:30 PM               

Inspiration4 splashes down from first 'all-civilian' Earth orbit mission

Three days after lifting off on a privately-funded mission, the first orbital spaceflight without a professional astronaut on board, the crew of Inspiration4 returned to Earth.

Lowered by parachutes to a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first "all-civilian" mission came to its end on Saturday (Sept. 18). SpaceX recovery teams, staged on boats, met the crew on board the Crew Dragon "Resilience" soon after they landed at 7:06 p.m. EDT (2306 GMT).