Elon Musk pledges $50 million to Inspiration4 fundraiser for St. Jude
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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk poses with the crew before launch on September 15, 2021.
John Kraus / Inspiration4
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk helped achieve the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital fundraising goal of the Inspiration4 spaceflight, just hours after his company returned the crew from orbit.
The main goal of the Inspiration4 mission, which launched on Wednesday and splashed down on Saturday, was to raise $200 million for St. Jude.
Jared Isaacman of Inspiration4, a billionaire entrepreneur and owner of SpaceX’s flight, made a personal donation to St. Jude, for $100 million. The Inspiration4 mission had raised another $60.2 million in donations, before Musk pledged to contribute $50 million himself – pushing the campaign’s total raised to more than $210 million.
Musk tweeted, “Count me in to $50M”
Three days of space travel was required for the historic Inspiration4 mission. It included Sian Proctor as pilot, Isaacman as well medical officer Hayley Arkeneaux, Chris Sembroski, and Sian Proctor as mission specialists. At 590 km, the crew orbited Earth. This is higher than the International Space Station. It was also the highest altitude humans have reached above the Earth’s surface in many years.
Spaceflight reached multiple milestones including the first ever private SpaceX Spaceflight, first crew made up entirely of nonprofessionals to become astronauts and first Black female pilot to spacecraft.
Inspiration4 passengers pose at Launch Complex 39A, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Left to right: Sian Proctor (pilot), Commander Jared Isaacman (medical officer), Chris Sembroski (mission specialist)
SpaceX
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