St. Jude employee to join billionaire on SpaceX flight

Ayla Ellison -

Hayley Arceneaux, a 29-year-old physician assistant at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and a pediatric cancer survivor, will join billionaire tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman on the first all-civilian trip to space. 

Mr. Isaacman, founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, will command the "Inspiration4" mission, which is scheduled to launch in late 2021. He donated two of the four seats on Inspiration4 to Memphis, Tenn.-based St. Jude, including the seat filled by Ms. Arceneaux. All crew members will undergo astronaut training by SpaceX.  

"It's an incredible honor to join the Inspiration4 crew," Ms. Arceneaux said in a news release. "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."

The remaining two seats are still available. One seat will go to a member of the public who enters for a chance to join the flight. The other seat will go to an entrepreneur who uses the Shift4Shop e-commerce platform to submit their idea and be selected by a panel of judges. 

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